Dec 23, 2024 Story by: Editor
On National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29, a federal judge in Connecticut issued a groundbreaking ruling permitting a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to proceed. The case alleges decades-long racial discrimination in veterans’ benefits dating back to World War II. Filed on behalf of Black veterans, the lawsuit seeks damages for the VA’s failure to address systemic bias since 1945. The decision marks a rare instance of a lawsuit addressing historic discrimination overcoming a motion to dismiss.
Judge Stefan R. Underhill denied the government’s motion to dismiss Monk v. United States, a case brought by Vietnam veteran Conley Monk Jr., the estate of his father—a World War II veteran—and the National Veterans Council for Legal Redress (NVCLR). The lawsuit claims Black veterans have endured a discriminatory benefits system for decades. The court found the allegations of systemic racial discrimination compelling enough to allow the case to advance and rejected a government request to prevent Margarita Devlin, a former VA official, from being deposed.
Monk and NVCLR are represented by the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic, part of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, and the law firm Edelson PC.
Judge Underhill’s 25-page opinion highlighted a history of “systematic benefits obstruction for Black veterans,” leading to “dignitary, emotional, and psychological harm.” He noted that “the VA should have known as early as the 1970s that Black veterans were at greater risk of benefits denials than white veterans.”
Expressing relief, Monk stated, “It has been some 50 years of waiting for some sort of justice and resolution for how the VA system treats Black veterans. This decision not only excites and inspires me but also brings hope to other veterans who have suffered.”
Garry Monk, Executive Director of NVCLR and brother of Conley Monk Jr., added, “My father fought on the beach at Normandy. My sister, another brother, and I also served. But like generations of Black veterans, when we returned home, the VA refused to provide us with the benefits and care that our service had earned. I hope this opinion will open the door to a measure of justice and redress for myself and many other Black veterans and their families.”
Richard Brookshire, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of the Black Veterans Project (BVP), called the case “the most important legal case reckoning with the legacy of racial discrimination against Black veterans in our nation’s history.” He stated, “The Department of Veterans Affairs has historically designed and implemented its benefits programs to reinforce our nation’s racial caste system, neglecting its moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to ensure racism was not a barrier to accessing home loans, education benefits, and disability compensation. The court’s ruling is a historic step toward justice. Black Veterans Project stands in solidarity with Mr. Monk and looks forward to working collaboratively to make reparations real in our lifetime.”
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) praised the effort, saying, “Black veterans deserve their day in court, an opportunity to shine a light on the VA disability determination process and ensure that all veterans’ claims are treated fairly and equally. I commend Conley Monk and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic for their steadfast determination to ensure justice for all veterans.”
“This effort was born from the imagination and strategic vision of Richard Brookshire and the Black Veterans Project, who joined forces with Conley Monk Jr., his brother Garry Monk, and NVCLR to make this vision a reality,” said Jared Hirschfield, a Yale Law School student involved in the case. “BVP and NVCLR sued the VA to force it to release data showing decades of discrimination against Black veterans in benefits decisions. Rather than redress these harms, the VA sought dismissal on procedural grounds, but we are pleased the court rejected these arguments.”
The lawsuit, filed in November 2022, details Conley Monk Jr.’s struggles with the VA. Despite serving in the Vietnam War and being exposed to Agent Orange, Monk developed PTSD and was repeatedly denied education, housing, and disability benefits over four decades.
“Black veterans should never have to fight systemic unfairness and racial discrimination in the VA, much less in 2024,” said Theo Benjamin, an attorney with Edelson PC. “But this ruling is an important step toward ending those harms.” Source: Yale Law School
