Opinion ID: 454316
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 Primary alcoholism does not result from an underlying psychological disorder. The V.A. considers primary alcoholism to be the result of willful misconduct barring an otherwise eligible veteran from receiving a delimiting date extension under 38 U.S.C. Sec. 1662(a)(1). However, a primary alcoholic who acquires an organic disability as a result of his alcoholism is not barred by the willful misconduct provision, if the organic disability--rather than the primary alcoholism--prevents use of the educational benefits within the basic period prescribed by 38 U.S.C. Sec. 1662(a)(1). Thus, only primary alcoholism is treated as willful misconduct within the meaning of V.A. statutes and regulations, and its victims presumptively prevented from obtaining extensions of the delimiting date. 3 Plaintiff-appellee served on active duty in the armed forces from January 12, 1955 to December 31, 1957, when he was honorably discharged. Based upon this service, plaintiff was entitled to 45 months of educational assistance under 38 U.S.C. Sec. 1661(a). Plaintiff applied for and received educational assistance to pursue a mechanical operation course from January 1975 through May 31, 1976. However, these benefits were terminated effective June 1, 1976, because plaintiff had reached his delimiting date pursuant to 38 U.S.C. Sec. 1662(a)(1). 4 In 1977, Section 1662(a)(1) was amended to extend the delimiting date for those who had been prevented during their period of eligibility from completing their education due to some physical or mental disability which was not the result of their own willful misconduct. Based upon this new provision, plaintiff filed a claim for extension on February 9, 1978, contending that he was prevented from engaging in an educational pursuit from 1966 to 1974 due to his alcohol addiction and its associated social, psychological, emotional and physical debilitations. On April 7, 1978, the V.A. denied this claim on the ground that plaintiff's alcoholism constituted willful misconduct as defined under 38 C.F.R. Sec. 3.1(n): an act involving conscious wrongdoing or known prohibited action. 5 Plaintiff subsequently filed a Notice of Disagreement and perfected a timely appeal to the Board of Veteran Appeals (Board). On March 7, 1979, the Board denied the appeal. The Board found that the incapacitating disability resulting from plaintiff's alcoholism was due to his own willful misconduct, and that he had no innocently acquired disability from June 1966 to January 1975 of sufficient magnitude to prevent him from pursuing his education. 6 Plaintiff reopened his claim in 1981 with additional medical documentation. The regional office, finding that the evidence submitted was not new and material, denied the claim. The plaintiff then requested and received a hearing before the Board concerning the reopened claim. On December 13, 1982, the Board ruled that no new factual basis had been presented to warrant a change in its 1979 denial of appeal. It noted that the evidence supported the finding that the plaintiff's primary alcoholism prevented his utilization of educational benefits, but that this condition was due to plaintiff's willful misconduct. It also noted that his documented innocently acquired organic disabilities (e.g. impaired liver function) were not so severe as to interfere seriously with educational pursuits. 7 Having exhausted his administrative remedies, plaintiff filed the instant action, challenging the V.A.'s willful misconduct regulations on both constitutional and nonconstitutional grounds. The district court rejected plaintiff's due process and equal protection claims. However, the court held that the V.A. policy of treating primary alcoholism as willful misconduct violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 794. Accordingly, the court granted plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on this ground. The defendant appeals from this decision while plaintiff cross-appeals the district court's dismissal of his constitutional claims. 4