Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/314/1293/531698/
Timestamp: 2018-08-19 19:47:58
Document Index: 135003922

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 7292', '§ 7292', '§ 7292', '§ 7266', '§ 7266', '§ 7266', '§ 7266', '§ 7266', '§ 5904', '§ 7721', '§ 11', '§ 7292', '§ 7266', '§ 7266', '§ 7266']

Milton Santana-venegas, Claimant-appellant, v. Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Respondent-appellee, 314 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2002) :: Justia
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Milton Santana-venegas, Claimant-appellant, v. Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Respondent-appellee, 314 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2002)
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit - 314 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2002)
Milton Santana-Venegas appeals from the decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ("Veterans Court") dismissing as untimely his appeal from the Board of Veterans Appeals ("BVA"), which denied his claim for service-connected disability benefits. See Santana-Venegas v. West, 16 Vet. App. 464, No. 99-718, 1999 U.S.App. Vet. Claims LEXIS 622 (Jun. 22, 1999). Because Mr. Santana-Venegas' misfiled notice of appeal with the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office ("VARO") from which his claim originated equitably tolled the judicial appeal period for filing his notice of appeal to the Veterans Court, the Veterans Court's dismissal is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The jurisdiction of this court to review decisions of the Veterans Court is limited by statute. 38 U.S.C. § 7292 (2000); Forshey v. Principi, 284 F.3d 1335, 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (en banc). This court has "exclusive jurisdiction to review and decide any challenge to the validity of any statute or regulation or any interpretation thereof brought under [section 7292], and to interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, to the extent presented and necessary to a decision." 38 U.S.C. § 7292(c). Accordingly, questions regarding the validity and interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions are questions of law to be reviewed without deference. Id.; Forshey, 284 F.3d at 1338.
However, we may only set aside interpretations of regulations relied upon in the decision of the Veterans Court that we find to be: "(A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; (B) contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege, or immunity; (C) in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or in violation of a statutory right; or (D) without observance of procedure required by law." 38 U.S.C. § 7292(d) (1).
Equitable tolling is generally available in two types of situations: (1) "where the claimant has actively pursued his judicial remedies by filing a defective pleading during the statutory period," or (2) "where the complainant has been induced or tricked by his adversary's misconduct into allowing the filing deadline to pass." Jaquay v. Principi, 304 F.3d 1276, 1282-83 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (en banc) (quoting Irwin v. Dep't of Veterans Affairs, 498 U.S. 89, 96, 111 S. Ct. 453, 112 L. Ed. 2d 435 (1990) (footnotes omitted)); see also Young v. United States, 535 U.S. 43, 122 S. Ct. 1036, 1040, 152 L. Ed. 2d 79 (2002) ("It is hornbook law that limitations periods are customarily subject to equitable tolling unless tolling would be inconsistent with the text of the relevant statute." (internal quotations and citations omitted)). The Irwin Court noted, however, that courts are "less forgiving in receiving late filings where the claimant failed to exercise due diligence in preserving his legal rights," or where there is "a garden variety claim of excusable neglect." Irwin, 498 U.S. at 96, 111 S. Ct. 453 (internal citations omitted).
This court has held that equitable tolling is available to toll the judicial appeal period of 38 U.S.C. § 7266. Jaquay, 304 F.3d at 1288-89 (holding that a veteran who seeks redress of a claim and misfiles his or her request for reconsideration at the same VARO from which the claim originated is entitled to toll the statute of limitations of 38 U.S.C. § 7266); Bailey v. West, 160 F.3d 1360, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (en banc) (holding that, "in light of Irwin, previous statements that equitable tolling is unavailable against 38 U.S.C. § 7266 are overruled"). In Jaquay, a veteran executed a motion for reconsideration of a BVA decision and presented it to his non-attorney representative. See Jaquay, 304 F.3d at 1279. Instead of mailing the motion to the BVA, the representative mailed it to the VARO, which was where the veteran's claims file was located. See id. Due to the delay, the veteran failed to file a notice of appeal with the Veterans Court within 120 days after the date on which notice of the initial BVA decision was mailed. See id. In examining whether the veteran "exercised due diligence in preserving his legal rights," id. at 1283 (citing Irwin, 498 U.S. at 96, 111 S. Ct. 453), this court reasoned:
While equitable tolling is available to toll the judicial appeal period of 38 U.S.C. § 7266, a veteran who files an untimely notice of appeal must nevertheless show that the veteran "exercised due diligence in preserving his legal rights." Jaquay, 304 F.3d at 1283 (citing Irwin, 498 U.S. at 96, 111 S. Ct. 453). In this case, the issue is whether a veteran who misfiles his or her notice of appeal at the same VARO from which the claim originated within the 120-day judicial appeal period of 38 U.S.C. § 7266(a), thereby actively pursues his judicial remedies, despite the defective filing, so as to toll the statute of limitations. Mr. Santana-Venegas acted diligently by filing his notice of appeal within 120 days of the BVA's decision affirming the denial of his claim. In the context of the non-adversarial, manifestly pro-claimant veterans' benefits system, and consistent with our decisions in Jaquay and Bailey, misfiling a notice of appeal at the VARO from which the claim originated shows that the claimant seeks redress before the Secretary despite the claimant's mistaken belief as to the accuracy of the filing location and does not involve "a garden variety claim of excusable neglect." Irwin, 498 U.S. at 96, 111 S. Ct. 453; see also Bailey, 160 F.3d at 1365. Once a veteran takes the affirmative act of seeking redress of his or her claim through a filing with the VARO from which the claim originated rather than the Veterans Court, " [t]he filing of the misdirected paper itself satisfies the diligence requirement as a matter of law." Jaquay, 304 F.3d at 1288 (citing Goldlawr, Inc. v. Heiman, 369 U.S. 463, 467, 82 S. Ct. 913, 8 L. Ed. 2d 39 (1962)).
Moreover, this is especially true in the circumstances of Mr. Santana-Venegas, who relied on the non-adversarial and pro-claimant character of the veterans' benefits system and pursued his statutory entitlements without the assistance of legal counsel. See 38 U.S.C. § 5904(c) (1) (prohibiting fee agreements with an attorney until the Board issues a final decision); Jaquay, 304 F.3d at 1282 (" [T]he law prohibiting lawyers from charging a fee has the practical effect of limiting the ability of veterans to retain a lawyer at the early stages of the claim process."). It is not unreasonable for veterans to rely on the VA to fully comply with the comprehensive policies adopted by the agency including the duty to assist timely. See 38 U.S.C. § 7721(a) ("ensuring that all veterans ... are provided timely and appropriate assistance to aid and encourage them in applying for and obtaining such benefits and services"); Dep't of Veterans Affairs Procedure Manual, M21-1, Part III § 11.02 (indicating that all correspondence must be acknowledged or answered within ten days of receipt). Such policies provide reasonable assurances that even misdirected mail will be forwarded or returned in due course and that proceedings will not be unduly delayed even where papers are inadvertently misfiled, provided they are misfiled at the same VARO from which the claim originated.
Our decision in this case does not involve the application of law to the facts of a particular case. See 38 U.S.C. § 7292(d) (2) (B); Leonard v. Gober, 223 F.3d 1374, 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2000) ("Because we lack jurisdiction to consider Leonard's arguments regarding the application of equitable tolling to the facts of her case, her appeal is dismissed."). Rather, our holding resolves whether the Veterans Court properly interpreted 38 U.S.C. § 7266(a) when it dismissed Mr. Santana-Venegas' appeal as being untimely. The Veterans Court erred by summarily dismissing Mr. Santana-Venegas' case as being untimely under 38 U.S.C § 7266(a) without evaluating the availability of equitable tolling. We now reverse this error and recognize that a veteran who misfiles his or her notice of appeal at the same VARO from which the claim originated within the 120-day judicial appeal period of 38 U.S.C. § 7266(a), thereby actively pursues his or her judicial remedies, despite the defective filing, so as to toll the statute of limitations under the first Irwin prong.