Active Duty Soldier Needs Help!

[MilitaryVet24]

Located in Alabama

I have a question about my legal options. My story is below.

I am an active duty soldier. I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease and 2 bulging disks with mild stenosis in 2009. I had corrective surgery in August of this year. My surgeon recommended the standard 6-10 weeks of convalescent leave. My unit, being the who cares philosophers they are, approved the first. 30 days of my leave but then denied the remaining 30 and forced me to return to work prematurely. The worst part is that when I asked why I was being forced back early they told me they had talked to my doctor and he told them 30 days was enough recovery time. Turns out they were of course lying. I have certified letters from my surgeon and military doctor stating they were never contacted or gave clearance for me to return to work early. I have since developed extremely sharp pains and my legs have been affected. My physical therapist thinks it is due to my being mobile before u should have. I had my 6 week follow up with my surgeon last week and he has ordered all new MRIs and x-rays to check the device that was placed in my back and could have to potentially remove it because the fusion was derailed by me not resting the appropriate amount of time. My unit has not taken responsibility and will not respond when questioned about what my doctors said about never being contacted. This has pretty much put me in the same boat as before I had surgery. Is there anything I can do against my unit and commander. The don't care and refuse to acknowledge the situation. Can I sue them? My back could be messed up beyond repair. Fusion cannot be repeated as far as I know. I am 27 years old married with 2 small children. I do not want to be walking with a cane like I am now for the rest of my life because my unit wanted me back at work .... I need help! Thank you in advance.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

MilitaryVet24, no you can not sue. Consider your chain of Command if filing
any grievance, complaints, etc. If no satisfaction from doing this, then try
the Inspector General"s Office, and if all this fails, then your locale Congress
Representative; good luck and do not give up! Lastly, thank you for your
Service.

 

[justalayman]

Lastly, thank you for your
Service.

Welcome back Shorty.

 

[csi7]

Doing all these things, also keep track of who you talk to, how to contact this person, and in a safe place. Due to the unit bringing you back without the medical documents required for evidence, the chain of command will be doing separate investigations, one for your complaint, and a separate one for the process (to cover their behinds).

Keep quiet about who you are contacting and keep track of who asks you for information.

 

[umkemesic]

Probably not, the feres doctrine prevents AD service members from suing the military. But you can collect disability and you can get your commander in hot water with an IG investigation or EEOC complaint (every base usually has a department).

 

[Free_Advice]

Go ahead an complain to your CO, see where that gets you -- an article 15 for some minor infraction and a discharge to go with it.

You need to seek an attny outside of a military one ... I think you are going to find that you are SOL on this one....I had similar issues and the military is horrible to injured members even when they say they do a great job. (the VA says they do a great job too)

 

[umkemesic]

Yes, the worst case I saw was a LtCl. who had a rag left INSIDE of him during a surgery and died. Wife only got survivor benefits.

You might want to hold off on complaining on your CO, even if he is gone, the next guy comming in might have an axe to grind. The above post is correct, an Article 15 for a minor infraction is the weapon of choice. Walk on egg shells man.

I'm not sure what your relationship is to your command, sometimes they are good to you, and sometimes they are -----.

Just carry-on with your duties, try to cross train into something not as demanding. Make your Doctor appointments and get disability.

 

[MilitaryVet24]

Thanks for your responses

Well, thanks for responding so fast, but I think my case is a little more unique. My 1st Sgt and Superintendent both quoted my doctors as saying 30 days was enough recovery time. That turned out to be blatant lies. Now. If they lied to me and my.commander and then my commander in turn makes the decision not to sign my paperwork, that is most definitely punishable under the UCMJ. I have I.G complaints all the way to the top. They tried to get me out without benefits just yesterday. My enlistment was up today and I had to fight to be medical boarded after being on medical board for 2 and a half years. My doctor lied on all of my paperwork. Luckily for me I went to the top and called someone at the medical board to review my case. About 3 hours later I was on medical hold for 6 months and being medical boarded, with 99% surity of being medically retired. I understand everyone on here's concern about me calling out my entire chain, but its too Mich for me to handle alone. I have a wife and 2 kids to worry about, and I can barely walk because of these people. I know I should never mix emotion with work, but I have too Mich riding on this and have put up with it for too long. My entire chain of comman has been grossly neglegent and it has let to my injury/reinjury. Something will be done. *I'm typing this from my cell do I can't spellchecker lol. Thanks again.

 

[Free_Advice]

Well, thanks for responding so fast, but I think my case is a little more unique. My 1st Sgt and Superintendent both quoted my doctors as saying 30 days was enough recovery time. That turned out to be blatant lies. Now. If they lied to me and my.commander and then my commander in turn makes the decision not to sign my paperwork, that is most definitely punishable under the UCMJ. I have I.G complaints all the way to the top. They tried to get me out without benefits just yesterday. My enlistment was up today and I had to fight to be medical boarded after being on medical board for 2 and a half years. My doctor lied on all of my paperwork. Luckily for me I went to the top and called someone at the medical board to review my case. About 3 hours later I was on medical hold for 6 months and being medical boarded, with 99% surity of being medically retired. I understand everyone on here's concern about me calling out my entire chain, but its too Mich for me to handle alone. I have a wife and 2 kids to worry about, and I can barely walk because of these people. I know I should never mix emotion with work, but I have too Mich riding on this and have put up with it for too long. My entire chain of comman has been grossly neglegent and it has let to my injury/reinjury. Something will be done. *I'm typing this from my cell do I can't spellchecker lol. Thanks again.

You did not tell us your enlistment was up ... advice would have been different

 

[MilitaryVet24]

You did not tell us your enlistment was up ... advice would have been different

Yeah I accidentally left that part out. I really should just get a lawyer. This is just so insane I can't believe the stuff that has happened just over the last few days.

My enlistment was up on Oct 18th. On top of all of the medical stuff going on, I was curious as to why I was not notified about my separation pending beforehand (I was suppose to be in Meb status. Of course I didn't know I wasn't, so I should have been notified about re enlisting). So I call my MPF and they tell me in their system it shows that I WAS eligible to, but I had elected to separate. I'm dumbfounded. I haven't signed or said anything about not reenlisting at all to anyone. I ask her where that came from and she says that if I didn't sign anything or tell anyone to on my behalf (since I was on con leave from my surgery) that it had to come from my chain. Now, the weird part is that she says that should have been accompanied by a letter of some sort with my signature. I am pretty furious at this point because when I was pulled off con leave early, the reason I was given was that I had to separate and follow up with the VA about my condition. I had no choice but to separate.

So, with the new info I have at hand I ask my supervisor, his supervisor, and our superintendent, in the same room, why I was told I had to get out, like I had no choice. I could have reinlisted and that I never said I was going to separate (I have a recorded conversation of me telling all of them this same thing a month ago). Immediately they turn on the wtf faces and start saying they hadn't seen anything or said anything or signed anything. I know its bs but I move on and go back to my medical stuff. Last Friday I went straight to the top and actually got my Meb stuff taken care of. Funny how that works. I get extended for six months so they can do their jobs, they hadn't done for the past 3 years on my case. Just when I think its calming down I get called to the commanders office on Oct 18th, my separation date, to sign something. Low and behold its a form saying that my supervisor does not elect me for reinlistment. They tell me I have 10 days to rebuttal it. Lol I'm just shocked. I ask them if I wasn't being placed on medical hold, how would I rebuttal this. They give me deer in headlights look, because this is a blatant cover my butt move. They had no intentions of me ever seeing this piece of paper. My supervisor told me he saw the form for the first time that morning. Lol seriously these people should not have control of anyone's future. Ever. They can't even lie good, and they don't know how to cover tracks. They knew they had that paper, probably to forge later, saying I couldn't reenlist and they were hoping I would just slide out.

Another thing is my surgeon put me back on con leave yesterday, and I have to start epidural injections again next week. If that doesn't work its surgery again. He told me point blank the things going wrong with my back are directly related to my being taken off con leave early. The WU those things heal and the lumbar fusion being so sensitive the time taken off is incredibly important. So seriously it would be insane if I couldn't sue my chain of command over this. My back could be permanently broken now if those nerves and fusion didn't heal right. I already know some are jacked up on the right side since they checked my reflexes and had to hit my right knee 5 times to get a slight response. My chain has proven time and again to be irresponsible and that they will lie on que. Any ideas I won't survive 6 more months over there. They already treat me like a criminal because I don't roll over and take it from them. Any advice is more than appreciated. Thanks in Advance.

 

[UMKEMESIK]

It's a little difficult to decipher what your asking for, but again, here is the Grim Truth;

(1) The Feres Doctrine bars you completely from filing any claims while you were on active duty.

Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135 (1950), combined three pending federal cases for a hearing in certiorari in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the United States is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries to members of the armed forces sustained while on active duty and not on furlough and resulting from the negligence of others in the armed forces. The opinion is an extension of the English common-law concept of sovereign immunity.

The practical effect is that the Feres doctrine effectively bars service members from collecting damages from the United States Government for personal injuries experienced in the performance of their duties. It also bars families of service members from filing wrongful death or loss of consortium actions when a service member is killed or injured. The bar does not extend to killed or injured family members, so a spouse or child may still sue the United States for tort claims, nor does it bar service members from filing either in loco parentis on their child's behalf or filing for wrongful death or loss of consortium as a companion claim to a spouse or child's suit.

There have been exceptions to the Feres doctrine where active duty members have been allowed to sue for injuries when the court found that civilians could have been harmed in the same manner under the same circumstances in which the service member's injuries occurred.

Injuries experienced by service members while on active duty are covered by various Veteran Administration benefit legislation. - Wikipedia

(2) You seem to imply wrongful discharge, actionable under the Tucker Act. But only actionable if you were forced to be discharged, that is, you had no alternative. If you initiated the Med Sep on your own, and did not fight it, you have no case for wrongful discharge. Them telling you that you had no choice, or that your career is over is not good enough. House v. United States, 08-758c, 2011"

"Applying the Court of Claims’ landmark decision in Christie v. United States, , 518 F.2d 584, 587 (Ct. Cl. 1975), Judge Allegra observed that “a plaintiff seeking to show that his resignation was the result of duress or coercion must show that: (i) he involuntarily accepted the terms of the government; (ii) circumstances permitted no other alternative; and (iii) said circumstances were the result of the government’s coercive acts.” Judge Allegra rejected some other cases’ suggestion that that three-part test is inapplicable where the government engaged in misconduct. In his view, to prevail, a plaintiff must demonstrate that the government’s “wrongful conduct left him with no alternative other than to retire or resign.” He concluded that LT House had viable options other than to retire, thus foreclosing relief"

You should consult with an experienced Attorney that has litigation exp. in Tucker Act/Disability Claims. If they think you have a case they will take it on contingency. Ask for free consultation and avoid paying $500 for them to tell you that you have no case.