Court Opinion

ID: 9946162
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-29 16:02:00.232527+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:28.440852
License: Public Domain

Case: 24-1165    Document: 10     Page: 1   Filed: 02/28/2024

           NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.

   United States Court of Appeals
       for the Federal Circuit
                  ______________________

            CESAR R. VAZQUEZ TORRES,
                 Plaintiff-Appellant

                             v.

                    UNITED STATES,
                    Defendant-Appellee
                  ______________________

                        2024-1165
                  ______________________

     Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
 in No. 1:23-cv-00085-SSS, Judge Stephen S. Schwartz.
                  ______________________

  Before MOORE, Chief Judge, TARANTO and CHEN, Circuit
                        Judges.
 PER CURIAM.
                        ORDER
     In response to this court’s December 18, 2023 order to
 show cause, the United States urges dismissal of this ap-
 peal. Cesar R. Vazquez Torres opposes dismissal.
     Mr. Vazquez Torres filed a complaint at the United
 States Court of Federal Claims, challenging decisions of
 the Army Board for Correction of Military Records and the
 Army Discharge Review Board. On October 17, 2023, the
 trial court affirmed the denial of disability retirement
Case: 24-1165     Document: 10     Page: 2    Filed: 02/28/2024

 2                                       VAZQUEZ TORRES v. US

 benefits but also ordered additional briefing on Mr.
 Vazquez Torres’s requests for back pay and a promotion.
 Mr. Vazquez Torres then filed a motion to “transfer” to this
 court, which was construed as a motion for certification of
 an interlocutory appeal and denied by the trial court on Oc-
 tober 23, 2023. The next day, Mr. Vazquez Torres filed a
 motion to “find the back pay and rank upgrade portion of
 this case as moot,” for entry of final judgment, and to
 “transfer” to this court. ECF No. 9 at 26–27. Before the
 trial court could address Mr. Vazquez Torres’s motion, he
 filed a notice of appeal from the October 17, 2023 order. In
 light of the notice of appeal, the trial court stayed proceed-
 ings.
     This court’s jurisdiction over an appeal from the Court
 of Federal Claims generally is limited to an appeal “from a
 final decision.” 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(3). A “final” decision
 “ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the
 court to do but execute the judgment.” Coopers & Lybrand
 v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 467 (1978) (quoting Catlin v.
 United States, 324 U.S. 229, 233 (1945)). The October 17,
 2023 order is not a final decision because it did not resolve
 the issues of backpay and promotion. Nor do the general
 exceptions to the final judgment rule apply here. In partic-
 ular, the trial court did not certify the order for interlocu-
 tory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2) or enter a Rule
 54(b) certification, which permits the court to enter final
 judgment as to fewer than all claims. RCFC 54(b). *

     *   To the extent Mr. Vazquez Torres’s pending motion
 can be understood as a request to voluntarily dismiss his
 requests for back pay and a promotion, that request has not
 yet been approved by the trial court. Without such ap-
 proval, there is no final appealable order in this case. See
 United Access Techs., LLC v. AT&T Corp., Nos. 2021-2002,
 2021-2007, 2022 WL 1124961, at *3 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 15,
 2022) (citing Robinson-Reeder v. Am. Council on Educ., 571
Case: 24-1165   Document: 10      Page: 3   Filed: 02/28/2024

 VAZQUEZ TORRES v. US                                     3

    Accordingly,
    IT IS ORDERED THAT:
    (1) The appeal is dismissed
    (2) Each party shall bear their own costs.
                                            FOR THE COURT

 February 28, 2024
      Date

 F.3d 1333, 1339–40 (D.C. Cir. 2009)). We expect the trial
 court will promptly act on Mr. Vazquez Torres’s pending
 motion.