FILED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 1/21/2021
Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Court for the District of Columbia
CLYDE E. WARD, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) Civil Action No. 21-105 (UNA)
)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT )
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS et al., )
)
Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on its initial review of plaintiff’s pro se complaint and
application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant the application and
dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3)
(requiring the court to dismiss an action “at any time” it determines that subject matter
jurisdiction is wanting).
“Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. They possess only that power
authorized by Constitution and statute,” and it is “presumed that a cause lies outside this limited
jurisdiction.” Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994) (citations
omitted). A party seeking relief in the district court must at least plead facts that bring the suit
within the court’s jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Failure to plead such facts warrants
dismissal of the action.
Plaintiff is a resident of Toledo, Ohio, who has sued the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs and Secretary Robert L. Wilkie, in his official capacity. The complaint challenges
decisions rendered by the U.S. Board of Veterans Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for
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Veterans Claims concerning plaintiff’s medical benefits. Compl. Sec. III (Statement of Claim).
Plaintiff “want[s]” this “Court to provide an adequate remedy within a venue providing a
fundamentally fair and unbiased adjudication of my claim[.]” Compl. at 6. In addition to
injunctive relief, plaintiff seeks money damages under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of
Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). See id., Sec. II (Basis for Jurisdiction).
Decisions “affecting the provision of veterans’ benefits” are generally the exclusive
province of the Court of Veterans Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit. Price v. United States, 228 F.3d 420, 421 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (per curiam) (citing
38 U.S.C. § 511(a)); accord Hunt v. U.S. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, 739 F.3d 706, 707 (D.C. Cir.
2014) (per curiam); Thomas v. Principi, 394 F.3d 970, 975 (D.C. Cir. 2005). “Benefit means any
payment, service, commodity, function, or status, entitlement to which is determined under laws
administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs pertaining to veterans and their dependents
and survivors.” 38 C.F.R. § 20.3(e).
Since plaintiff is seeking “the VA’s action . . . with respect to a veterans’ benefits
matter,” the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over his claim for injunctive relief. Price,
228 F.3d at 421 (citing 38 U.S.C. § 511(a)); see also id. at 422 (“[C]ourts have consistently held
that a federal district court may not entertain constitutional or statutory claims whose resolution
would require the court to intrude upon the VA’s exclusive jurisdiction.”) (citing cases); Thomas,
394 F.3d at 975 (“Because adjudicating . . . allegations [of] failure to render appropriate medical
services and denial of . . . necessary medical care treatment would require the district court to
determine first whether the VA acted properly in providing . . . benefits, [such] claims are barred
by section 511.”) (internal quotation marks and omitted)); Verner v. U.S. Gov’t, 804 F. Supp.
381, 385 (D.D.C. 1992) (concluding that the “Court is clearly barred by § 511(a) from issuing” a
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preliminary injunction to compel veteran’s medical treatment). District courts, such as this, also
lack jurisdiction to review another court’s decisions and order it to take any action. See United
States v. Choi, 818 F. Supp. 2d 79, 85 (D.D.C. 2011) (district courts “generally lack[] appellate
jurisdiction over other judicial bodies, and cannot exercise appellate mandamus over other
courts.”) (citing Lewis v. Green, 629 F. Supp. 546, 553 (D.D.C. 1986)); accord Atchison v. U.S.
Dist. Courts, 240 F. Supp. 3d 121, 126, n.6 (D.D.C. 2017) (“It is a well-established principle
that a district court can neither review the decisions of its sister court nor compel it to act.”).
With respect to plaintiff’s claim for damages, 38 U.S.C. § 511(a) is not a jurisdictional
bar to a claim that does not entail the review of a benefits decision. Blue Water Navy Vietnam
Veterans Ass’n, Inc. v. McDonald, 830 F.3d 570, 576 (D.C. Cir. 2016). But Congress has not
waived the United States’ immunity from suit under Bivens, see FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471,
485-86 (1994), which includes Secretary Wilkie. See Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166
(1985) (“an official-capacity suit is, in all respects other than name, to be treated as a suit against
the entity”). Therefore, this case will be dismissed. A separate Order accompanies this
Memorandum Opinion.
_________s/_____________
TANYA S. CHUTKAN
Date: January 21, 2021 United States District Judge
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