MLM 102 - Manker v. Sec. of the Navy - Navy reconsiders certain NDRB applications

Military Law & Life Matters

*A lawsuit was filed alleging that since the start of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Navy and Marine Corps discharged thousands of Sailors and Marines with Other Than Honorable ("OTH") or General (Under Honorable Conditions) ("GEN") statuses due to misconduct attributable to post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD"), traumatic brain injury ("TBI"), military sexual trauma ("MST"), and other behavioral health conditions ("OBH"). Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that veterans who experienced PTSD, TBI, MST, or OBH in service and received OTH and GEN discharges were systematically denied status upgrades by the Navy Discharge Review Board ("NDRB"). The Navy has agreed to settle the lawsuit while denying these allegations.

The Court certified a class in this civil action (the “Settlement Class”) defined as follows:

"Veterans who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan Era—defined as the period between October 7, 2001 and February 15, 2022—who:

• were discharged from the Navy, Navy Reserves, Marine Corps, or Marine Corps Reserve with less-than-Honorable statuses, including General and Other-than-Honorable discharges but excluding Bad Conduct or Dishonorable discharges;
• have not received upgrades of their discharge statuses to Honorable from the NDRB; and
• have diagnoses of PTSD, TBI, or other related mental health conditions, or records documenting one or more symptoms of PTSD, TBI, or other related mental health conditions at the time of discharge, attributable to their military service under the Hagel Memo standards of liberal or special consideration.”

*verbatim text from https://www.mankersettlement.com/

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