Source: http://openjurist.org/print/231192
Timestamp: 2015-08-05 07:01:44
Document Index: 741234585

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3853', '§ 1003', '§ 3848', '§ 633', '§ 3848', '§ 3848', '§ 3853', '§ 3843']

644 F2d 1378 Lavin v. O Marsh
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644 F2d 1378 Lavin v. O Marsh 644 F.2d 1378
Richard P. LAVIN, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.John O. MARSH, Jr.,* Secretary of the Army ofthe United States, and The United States Army,Defendants-Appellees.
No. 79-4163.
Argued and Submitted Dec. 10, 1980.Decided May 15, 1981.
Joseph W. Cotchett, Cotchett, Hutchinson & Dyer, San Mateo, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant.
George Christopher Stoll, Asst. U. S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., for defendants-appellees.
Before KILKENNY and CHOY, Circuit Judges, and GRANT,** District Judge.
Richard P. Lavin was a 53-year-old lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve who faced mandatory removal from active service because of an age-based statutory years-of-service limitation. Lavin sought a district court injunction to prevent his removal and to require that the Secretary of the Army review his petition for relief from the mandatory removal provision. The district court found that while Lavin's claim was deserving of sympathy, it was not supported by statute or by equitable principles. We agree and affirm the district court's summary judgment in favor of the defendants.
Richard Lavin is a World War II combat veteran with an outstanding military record. In 1963, at age 38, Lavin re-enlisted as a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve, Judge Advocate General Corps. His superiors enthusiastically commended Lavin's performance and his contribution to the Army Reserve. Throughout his 17 years of service in the Reserve, Lavin participated in training and educational programs to improve his ability to serve the Army, and to gain points toward retirement benefits.
In 1977, Lavin was notified that he would be removed from active status on January 4, 1978, 30 days after his 53rd birthday, and 17 months short of the period required to obtain pension benefits. The record shows that Lavin could have continued to serve in an exemplary manner for those remaining 17 months had he been allowed to do so.
Lavin's removal was pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 3853. Under that section, Lavin, as a 53-year-old lieutenant colonel, was deemed to have 28 "years of service," thus mandating removal. In fact, Lavin had served 17 years. The statute, however, computed years of service as "the number of years by which his age exceeds 25 years." This is known as the "age 25 rule."
Lavin petitioned the Secretary of the Army (the Secretary) to allow him to continue to serve. The petition was summarily dismissed, not on the merits, but on the ground that the Secretary had no authority to grant relief from mandatory years-of-service removal provisions.
Lavin sought injunctive relief to force the Secretary to review his petition. The district court found that Lavin had been induced to join the Reserve by recruiters' indications that he would be eligible for retirement benefits.1 The district court held, however, that this inducement did not rise to the level required to estop the Army from denying Lavin benefits. The court also held that the Secretary was not statutorily authorized to retain reservists who, like Lavin, were subject to mandatory years-of-service removal.
The questions presented on appeal are:
1. Whether the Secretary's authority, under 10 U.S.C. § 1003, to retain reservists otherwise subject to mandatory removal applies where removal is mandated by the age-based, years-of-service provisions of 10 U.S.C. §§ 3848, 3853.
2. Whether the Army is estopped from denying Lavin retirement benefits.
3. Whether Lavin properly preserved the question of age discrimination for appeal, and if so whether the provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 633a, apply to Army reservists.
A. The Secretary's Authority to Retain Reservists Subject to Removal Under 10 U.S.C. § 3848
The statutory scheme which mandated Lavin's removal on first reading seems incredible. Nonetheless, this scheme was promulgated by Congress and this court is bound to follow its letter absent any indication that Congress intended otherwise.
Lavin was a victim of the "age 25 rule" of 10 U.S.C. §§ 3848, 3853.2 Section 3848 states that removal is required for certain mid-ranking officers, including lieutenant colonels, after 28 years of service. Under § 3853 the affected reservist who reaches the age which would put him 28 years past his 25th birthday, i. e., age 53, is automatically deemed to have served 28 years, even though, as in Lavin's case, his actual length of service is far less. Under this scheme, no lieutenant colonel ever reaches the mandatory retirement age of 60 which otherwise limits reserve officers below the rank of major general. See 10 U.S.C. § 3843. Either of two things will happen before the affected reservist reaches age 60: he will serve 28 years, or he will reach age 53. At age 53, he will be deemed to have served 28 years because of the age-25 rule.