Golden v. Dept. Of Veterans Affairs

NOTE: This order is nonprecedential United States Court of AppeaIs for the Federal Circuit CATHLEEN E. GOLDEN, Claiman,t-Appellant, V. ERIC K. SHINSEKI, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Resp0ndent-Appel§ee. 2009-7029 . Appea1 from the United StateS Court of Appea1s for Veterans Claims in 04-1385, Judge R0bert N. Davis. ON MOTION Bef0re RADER, Chief Judge, LoURlE and O’MALLEY, Cir- cuit Judges. RADER, C'hief Judge. 0 R D E R The Secretary of Veterans Affairs moves without op- position to vacate the judgment of the United StateS GOLDEN V. DVA 2 Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and to remand for further proceedings The appellant filed a notice of appeal with the Court of Veterans Claims more than 120 days after the Board of Veterans’ Appeals mailed its decision in her case. That court dismissed the appeal as untimely, concluding that the 120-day appeal period established by 38 U.S.C. § 7266(a) for seeking review of Board of Veterans’ Appeals decisions is jurisdictional and not subject to equitable tolling. The appellant sought this c0urt's review. This court stayed the briefing schedule in this appeal pending the United States Supreme Court’s review of our decision in Henderson v. Shinseki, 589 F.3d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (en banc) (affirming Court of Appeals for Vet- erans Claims determination that period to appeal to that court is not subject to equitable tolling). ln Henderson, ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, 131 S.Ct. 1197 (2011), the Supreme Court reversed this court’s decision and con- cluded that the 120-day deadline for filing an appeal with the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims does not have jurisdictional consequences. Because the Court of Ap- peals for Veterans Claims erred in concluding that the appeal deadline established by § 7266(a) is jurisdictional, we vacate the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims’ judgment and remand for further proceedings Accordingly, lT IS ORl)ERED THATZ (1) The motion is granted. The judgment is vacated and the case is remanded for further proceedings. (2) All sides shall bear their own costs 3 MAY 25 2011 Date cc: John F. Cameron, Jr., Esq. Allison Kidd»Miller, Esq. s2O comm v. DvA FoR THE CoURT /s/ J an l-Iorba13; J an Horbaly Clerk Issued As A Mandate: 2 5 n F|i.E s.s. cover or Ai=,P:ALs F0n me renewal c1szcu1r |f1AY 25 2011 JANlBHBALY 0LE!l£