Lawsuit Claims Air Force Fails to Give Special Consideration to Mental Health, Trauma in Issuing Less-Than-Honorable Discharges

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A proposed class action alleges the United States Air Force has forcibly separated “countless” veterans from the military with less-than-honorable discharges over minor infractions while refusing to acknowledge the role mental health or sexual trauma may have played in shaping an individual’s conduct. 

The 47-page lawsuit, filed in Connecticut against Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall in his official capacity, alleges veterans less-than-honorably discharged without regard to their mental health or traumas are “forever stigmatized,” rejected from employment and barred from education and healthcare given their discharge status. The complaint alleges those most harmed by the Air Force’s “improper[] and inequitabl[e]” discharge practices are its most marginalized members, airmen of color and women, who the case says “disproportionately experience this punishment.” 

“Every day, men and women who joined the Air Force to serve their country struggle with the invisible wounds of their service,” the lawsuit begins. “Rather than recognizing the effects of their military trauma and honoring these veterans for their sacrifices, the Air Force punishes them for their suffering.” 

The lawsuit alleges that despite agency guidance to liberally consider post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses and military sexual trauma, and litigation challenging the Army and Navy’s alleged failure to comply with discharge consideration laws, the Air Force Discharge Review Board has espoused an “entrenched skepticism of veterans’ mental health claims and experiences of sexual or intimate partner violence.” According to the plaintiffs, the Air Force “consistently refuses to apply the liberal consideration standard,” and instead rejects “hundreds of meritorious claims” each year, often without an explanation of what a veteran must show to prevail or why their claims have failed. 

“In place of actual reasoning, the Air Force deploys boilerplate language to reject their claims,” the suit alleges. 

In the wake of a less-than-honorable discharge, Air Force veterans who have survived trauma, abuse and combat “learn that they will forever be defined by their lowest moments through standardized phrases that exemplify the [discharge board’s] suspicion of mental health claims and disregard for the case-by-case demands of liberal consideration,” the case goes on to allege. 

The suit claims that by issuing “arbitrary and capricious and discriminatory” decisions, the Air Force Discharge Review Board violates the Administrative Procedures Act, Department of Defense guidance, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. 

Among other requested relief, the plaintiffs ask the court to order the Air Force Discharge Review Board to review their discharge upgrade applications and meaningfully apply the liberal consideration standard. 

According to the complaint, more than 15 percent of all service members left the military with less-than-honorable discharges from 2002 to 2013. By contrast, the suit says, roughly seven percent of Vietnam-era veterans and less than two percent of World War II veterans received less-than-honorable discharges.

The case adds that veterans with less-than-honorable discharges are categorically denied GI Bill education benefits and civil service retirement benefits. Moreover, those with less-than-honorable discharges are ineligible for benefits for service-connected disabilities, special unemployment compensation programs, a military burial and benefits for surviving family members, the lawsuit says:

“Without these benefits, veterans are unable to access the health care they need, forced to pay out of pocket for educational and vocational training opportunities, and left largely without the support that is vital to a successful transition back to civilian life. 

Furthermore, many employers reject applications from veterans with less-than-Honorable discharges, even when those discharges are associated with only minor misconduct. A less-than-Honorable discharge carries a stigma that casts doubt on a veteran’s personal character and ability to perform as an employee.” 

The case alleges the Air Force Discharge Review Board, between January 2017 and December 2019, issued denials to 72 percent of veterans seeking discharge upgrades in connection with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other mental health conditions, and 60 percent of those seeking upgrades related to military sexual trauma. 

The lawsuit looks to represent all Air Force veterans who (a) were discharged with less-than-Honorable discharges from the Air Force (including General and Other-than-Honorable discharges from the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, and Bad Conduct discharges from special court-martials, excluding uncharacterized charges); (b) were discharged within the last 15 years or, if discharged more than 15 years ago, received a discharge upgrade decision from the Air Force Discharge Review Board within the last six years; (c) have not received discharge upgrades to Honorable; and (d) have mental health conditions such as PTSD and PTSD-related conditions, traumatic brain injuries, or experiences of military sexual trauma or intimate partner violence that have resulted in a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, or have records documenting one or more of the aforementioned experiences or conditions.

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