Opinion ID: 2795303
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Allotted Time To Appeal Was Greatly Reduced

Text: Mr. Toomer received a copy of the Board’s decision after more than half of the filing period had elapsed. The accompanying notice of appellate rights explained that he would have 120 days from the date “this decision” was mailed to him to file his appeal. J.A. 21. The rules permit 120 days to appeal. A legally unsophisticated veteran may require a significant amount of time, as much as the entire 120 days, to consider the decision, research the law, evaluate the merits of an appeal, and prepare and file the notice of appeal. To the extent Congress deems that the entire statutorily-provided period as necessary for all of these steps, cutting that time by more than half, as the majority does here, casts doubt on the sufficiency of the resultant filing period. The majority does not state why 4 TOOMER v. MCDONALD the shortened period should be deemed sufficient for this particular veteran. There is no evidence that Mr. Toomer was less than diligent, as he filed his appeal 85 days after the copy of the decision was mailed to him, well within the otherwise applicable 120-day period. Where a claimant acts with diligence to do everything that could reasonably be expected of him, and the untimely filing is beyond his control, the untimely filing should not bar the claim. Herring v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 778 F.3d 1011, 1016-18 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (reversing dismissal of appeal for untimely filing where claimant relied on misleading statements made by her counsel). Such diligence suggests that but for his confusion as to the date his appeal was due, generated by the government, Mr. Toomer would have timely filed his appeal.