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Administrative Law Keyed to Breyer
Kisor v. Wilkie
Citation:
139 S. Ct. 2400 (2019)Facts
James Kisor, a Vietnam War veteran who participated in Operation Harvest Moon, applied for disability benefits in 1982, claiming he suffered from PTSD. The VA denied his claim after a psychiatric evaluation concluded he did not have PTSD. In 2006, Kisor moved to reopen his claim with new evidence, including a new psychiatric report diagnosing him with PTSD and additional service records confirming his participation in combat. The VA granted his claim but only from the date of his 2006 motion to reopen. Kisor argued he was entitled to benefits dating back to his 1982 application under a VA regulation that allowed for retroactive benefits when “relevant official service department records” were not considered in the initial denial. The Board of Veterans’ Appeals determined that Kisor’s new records were not “relevant” because they did not address the reason for the original denial—that he did not have PTSD—but only confirmed his combat service, which was not disputed. The Federal Circuit deferred to the Board’s interpretation of “relevant” under Auer, finding it not “plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the VA’s regulatory framework.”
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