Background
Carrol E. Hutchison appealed a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which had affirmed a Board of Veterans’ Appeals denial of service-connected disability benefits for knee and ankle disorders and a sleep disorder. The Board denied the claim because Ms. Hutchison failed to establish that her disabilities were caused by an injury incurred or aggravated in line of service. The Board relied on naval personnel records indicating she had no active-duty service. Ms. Hutchison argued the Board erred by not considering witness testimony suggesting her service should be classified as active duty.
The court’s reasoning
The court affirmed that the Board did not err in declining to consider witness testimony. Under 38 C.F.R. Section 3.203(a)(1), the Board may only consider documentation issued by the relevant service department as evidence to establish a particular service classification. The court noted it has consistently rejected similar challenges to this requirement. The court cited Dela Cruz v. Wilkie and Soria v. Brown to support this conclusion. The court recognized that Ms. Hutchison may pursue a claim to correct her personnel service records with the Board for Correction of Naval Records.
What it means going forward
Claimants seeking to correct service records to establish active-duty status must petition the Board for Correction of Naval Records rather than relying on witness testimony in Veterans Court proceedings. The Federal Circuit remanded the case to the Veterans Court to hold the matter in abeyance pending those correction proceedings.