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

Veterans with disabilities are frequently exploited by attorneys who use their benefits as a source of cash. This is the reason you need a attorney who is accredited to manage VA claims.

A Connecticut veteran who suffered from schizophrenia post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health disorders linked to a deadly aircraft carrier crash has clinched a major victory. But it comes with a significant price tag.

Class Action Settlement

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

Monk, a former psychiatrist, has claimed that discrimination at the hands of VA has caused him, and other black vets to suffer in a manner that has affected their health, their home lives and employment as well as education. Monk wants the VA to reimburse him for the benefits they have denied him, and to alter their policies regarding race and discharge status as well as denial rates.

Monk and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic received 20 years of VA disability claim data in the last year, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request that they made on behalf of National Veterans Council for Legal Redress and the Black Veterans Project. The data revealed that Black veterans were statistically less likely to be granted an appeal for disability than white veterans between 2001 and 2020. Additionally the average denial rate was 6.3% higher for black veterans than it was for white veterans.

Discrimination is based on PTSD

According to a lawsuit filed Monday the Veterans Affairs Department denies disability benefits to Black Veterans. The lawsuit is brought by an ex- Marine Corps vet who was denied housing as well as education benefits, among others despite suffering from undiagnosed PTSD. The suit cites evidence to show that VA officials have historically disproportionately denied claims made by Black veterans disability law firm.

Conley Monk was a member of the Marines as a volunteer during the Vietnam War. He drove an unmarked transport vehicle and was a part of the team that moved troops and equipment into combat zones. Monk was later involved in two battles that he blamed on his PTSD. In 1971, he was awarded a discharge that was not honorable. This "bad paper" prevented him from getting home loans as well as tuition aid and other benefits.

He filed a lawsuit against the military to stop the discharge, and was awarded a range of benefits in 2015 and 2020. However, he says the VA still has to pay him for the denials he received in the past of disability compensation. He also suffered significant emotional harm from reliving some of his most traumatizing memories with each application and re-application for benefits, the suit says.

The lawsuit seeks damages in the form of money and asks the court to require the VA to review its systemic PTSD discrimination. It is the latest effort by groups like the ACLU and Service Women's Action Network to get the VA to end the long-running discrimination against sexual assault survivors.

Alimony Discrimination

Veterans who have served our country in uniform or who accompany them require honest answers regarding veterans disability compensation and its impact on money issues in divorce. One of the biggest misconceptions is that state courts can garnish veterans' VA compensation to pay for child support and alimony. This isn't the case. Congress carefully crafted Title 38 of the U.S. Code to protect the payment of veterans from claims brought by family members and creditors including alimony and child support.

Conley Monk decided to serve his country and spent two years in Vietnam driving bullet-ridden transport vehicles, moving equipment and troops from combat zones. He was awarded numerous medals, veterans Disability lawsuits but then he received a discharge that was less than honorable because he was battling two times due to an undiagnosed post-traumatic disorder. It was a long, difficult road to get the VA to accept disability compensation.

He was denied benefits at a much more frequent rate than his white peers. This racial discrimination was systemic and widespread, as per the lawsuit filed on his behalf by the National veterans disability attorneys Council for Legal Redress and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School. It alleges that the VA was aware of and failed to address decades of discrimination against Black veterans. It seeks redress for Monk and other veterans similar to Monk.

Appeal

The VA's Board of Veterans Appeals reviews claims for benefits when a claimant is not satisfied with a decision that the agency has made. If you're considering appealing a decision, it is important that you do so as soon as possible. A veteran disability lawyer can ensure that your appeal meets all requirements and gets an impartial hearing.

A licensed lawyer can examine the evidence used to prove your claim, and should it be necessary, present additional and more convincing evidence. A lawyer also knows the difficulties of dealing with the VA and could increase the level of empathy for the situation. This can be a huge asset in your appeals process.

One of the primary reasons why a claim for disability benefits from a veteran can be denied is because the agency hasn't properly described their condition. An experienced attorney will ensure that your condition is correctly classified and rated, allowing you to obtain the benefits you need. An experienced attorney will be able work with medical professionals to provide additional evidence of your situation. A medical expert is one example. They may be able to demonstrate that your pain is a result of your service-related injury, and is disabled. They may also be able to assist you obtain the medical records required to support your claim.