Veterans Disability Lawsuits - Why You Need a Lawyer Who is Accredited to Handle Veterans Disability Lawsuits

Attorneys who profit from disabled veterans to make money often use their benefits. This is why you should hire an attorney that is certified to handle VA claims.

A Connecticut veteran who suffered from schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions related to a deadly aircraft carrier crash has clinched a major victory. However, it comes at cost.

Class Action Settlement

According to a lawsuit filed on Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs discriminates against Black veterans in denying their disability claims at a rate that is much higher than white veterans. Conley Monk is a 74-year-old Marine Corps veteran from the Vietnam War who filed the lawsuit. He claims that VA has denied his disability claims at a greater rate than white veterans over the past three decades, according to documents obtained by Monk and the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic.

Monk, a former psychiatric nursing, claims that discrimination by VA has caused him, as well as other black vets to suffer in a way that has affected their health, their home lives, employment, and education. He demands that the agency compensate him for benefits he has been deprived of and to change its policies on race as well as discharge status and denial rates.

Monk and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic received 20 years of VA disability claim information in the past year as part of a Freedom of Information Act request which they filed on behalf of National Veterans Council for Legal Redress as well as the Black Veterans Project. These data showed that Black Veterans were statistically less prone to be granted the right to claim disability benefits than white veterans between 2001 and 2020. Additionally, the average denial rate was 6.3 percent higher for black veterans than it was for white veterans.

Discrimination based on PTSD

The Veterans Affairs Department systematically denies disability benefits to Black veterans, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. The suit is led by a former Marine Corps veteran who was denied access to housing as well as education benefits for decades, despite having been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The suit provides evidence that VA officials have historically denied claims from Black veterans.

Conley Monk was a member of the Marines as an active volunteer during the Vietnam War. He drove a bullet-ridden transport vehicle, and helped move equipment and troops into combat zones. He ended up in two fights with fellow Marines who he blamed for his PTSD, and received an unhonorable military discharge in 1971. This "bad paper" kept him from receiving loans for homes as well as tuition aid and other benefits.

He filed a lawsuit against the military to reverse the discharge and was awarded full benefits in 2015 and 2020. He claims that the VA is liable for past denials of disability benefits. He also suffered a lot of emotional trauma from reliving the most traumatic memories with each application and re-application, the suit claims.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and wants the court require the VA to examine its systemic PTSD bias. The lawsuit is the latest attempt by groups like the ACLU and Service Women's Action Network, to force the VA into addressing the discrimination it has suffered for years against survivors of sexual assault.

Alimony Discrimination

The veterans who were in uniform or were a part of those who served in the military, need to know the truth about veterans disability benefits and their impact on divorce money issues. One of the biggest myths is that the state courts can garnish veterans' VA compensation to pay for child support and alimony. This isn't the case. Congress carefully designed the law in Title 38, U.S. Code to protect veterans' funds from claims of creditors and family members other than alimony and child support.

Conley Monk accepted a call to serve his country and spent two years in Vietnam driving bullet-ridden transport vehicles, moving equipment and troops out of combat zones. He was awarded several medals, but the discharge he received was not honorable as he was battling two times caused by undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. It was a long and winding road for him to get the VA to accept disability compensation.

He was denied benefits at a more frequent rate than his white peers. The discrimination was racial and pervasive, according the lawsuit brought on his behalf by the National Veterans Council for Legal Redress and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School. It claims that the VA was aware of but did not combat decades of discrimination against Black Veterans. It seeks to redress Monk and other veterans like him.

Appeal

The VA's Board of veterans disability law firms Appeals reviews claims for Veterans Disability Lawsuits benefits when a claimant is not satisfied with a decision that the agency has made. If you're considering appealing an appeal, it's important that you do so as soon as possible. An experienced lawyer in appeals for veterans disability can assist you in ensuring that your appeal complies with all requirements and ensure that it is heard in a fair manner.

A lawyer with experience can look over the evidence to support your claim and, if needed, provide new and veterans Disability Lawsuits additional evidence. A lawyer who knows the challenges of the VA will be more sympathetic to your circumstance. This can be an important benefit in your appeals.

One of the most common reasons why a claim for disability benefits from a veteran can be denied is because the agency has not correctly defined their condition. A lawyer with experience will ensure that your condition is properly classified and rated, allowing you to claim the benefits you need. A qualified lawyer will be able to work with medical experts to provide additional proof of your medical condition. For example an expert in medical practice may be able to show that the pain you suffer is a result of your service-related injury and that it is causing you to be disabled. They may also be able assist you in obtaining the medical records needed to support your claim.