Veterans Disability Lawsuits - Why You Need a Lawyer Who is Accredited to Handle Veterans Disability Lawsuits
Attorneys who profit from disabled veterans to earn money often rely on their benefits. You require an attorney who is licensed to handle VA claims.
A Connecticut veteran who suffered from schizophrenia post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions related to a fatal aircraft carrier collision has won an important victory. But it comes at a price.
Class Action Settlement
The Department of Veterans Affairs has systematically discriminated against Black veterans by refusing disability compensation claims at a higher rate than white veterans, according to the lawsuit filed on Monday. Conley Monk, a 74-year-old Marine Corps veteran who served during the Vietnam War, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit. According to documents obtained by Monk and the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic and Monk claims that the VA denied his disability claim at a greater rate than white veterans in the last three decades.
Monk, a retired psychiatrist, says that discrimination by VA has led him, and other black veterans, to suffer in a way that has affected their health, their home lives and employment as well as education. He is requesting that the VA pay him back the benefits they have denied him, and to alter their policies regarding race and discharge status as well as denial rates.
Last year, Monk and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic obtained 20 years of VA disability compensation claim data by way of Freedom of Information Act requests, which they filed on behalf of the National Veterans Council for Legal Redress and the Black Veterans Project. The data showed that Black Veterans were statistically less likely to be granted the right to claim disability benefits than white veterans between 2001 and 2020. The average denial rate for black veterans was 6.3 percent higher than white veterans.
Discrimination due to PTSD
According to a lawsuit filed Monday in the United States, the Veterans Affairs Department denies disability benefits to Black Veterans. The suit was filed by a former Marine Corps veteran who was denied access to housing as well as education benefits for years, even though he suffered from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The suit cites evidence that VA officials have historically denied claims from Black veterans.
Conley Monk was a volunteer in the Marines during the Vietnam War, driving a damaged transport vehicle that was prone to bullets and helping to transport equipment and troops to combat zones. Conley Monk was later involved two battles, which he attributed to his PTSD. In 1971, he was awarded a discharge that was not an honorable. This "bad paper" kept him from receiving loans for homes or tuition aid, as well as other benefits.
He filed a lawsuit against the military to rescind the discharge and was awarded a full range of benefits in 2015 and 2020. But, he claims that the VA still is owed money for his previous denials of disability compensation. He also suffered severe emotional harm as he relived the most traumatic memories through each application and re-application, the suit says.
The lawsuit seeks financial damages and also to require the VA to examine its systems-wide PTSD bias. It is the latest move by groups like the ACLU and Service Women's Action Network to make it mandatory for the VA to address discrimination that has been in place for years against sexual assault survivors.
Alimony Discrimination
Anyone who was in uniform or who accompanied those who served in the military, need to know the truth about veterans disability benefits and their impact on divorce-related money issues. One of the biggest myths is that
veterans disability attorney may have their VA compensation garnished in order to pay alimony or child support orders in state courts. This is not the case. Congress has carefully designed Title 38 of the U.S. Code to protect veterans' payment from claims made by family members and creditors with the exception of alimony and child support.
Conley Monk was a volunteer to serve his country and spent two years in Vietnam driving bullet-riddled transport vehicles, moving equipment and troops out of conflict zones. He was awarded several medals for his service, but was later acquitted of a less honorable discharge when he got into two fights caused by undiagnosed PTSD. It was a long, long, and winding path for him to get the VA to accept disability compensation.
He was denied benefits at an amount that was significantly higher than white people. This discrimination against blacks was widespread and pervasive, according to the lawsuit brought on his behalf by the National
Veterans disability Lawsuit Council for Legal Redress and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School. It claims that the VA did not know about and failed to confront decades of discrimination affecting Black veterans. It seeks justice for Monk and other veterans.
Appeals
The VA Board of Veterans Appeals reviews claims for benefits if a claimant disagrees a decision made by the agency. It is essential to appeal a decision as swiftly as you can. A veteran disability lawyer can help ensure that your appeal fulfills all requirements and gets an impartial hearing.
A competent lawyer will review the evidence used to prove your claim and, if necessary, submit additional and more convincing evidence. A lawyer also knows the challenges of dealing with the VA and could result in a greater degree of empathy for the situation. This can be a valuable benefit to your appeals.
A veteran's claim for disability is usually rejected because the agency did not accurately describe their condition. An experienced attorney can make sure that your condition is correctly categorized and rated, allowing you to claim the benefits you require. A qualified lawyer will also be able to consult with medical specialists to provide additional proof of your medical condition. For example an expert in medicine might be able prove that the pain you experience is due to your service-related injury and that it is causing you to be disabled. They might also be able help you obtain the medical records that are required to prove your claim.