Guerra v. Shinseki

Under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s), a disabled veteran with a service-connected disability rated as a total disability, and with an additional service-connected disability independently rated at 60 percent or more, or who was permanently housebound, would be entitled to receive additional special monthly compensation. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (defendant) issued regulations at 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(i) that clarified that § 1114(s) required the veteran to be afflicted with a single service-connected disability rated as total to satisfy the first component of the statute. Therefore, under the VA’s interpretative regulations, having multiple disabilities that collectively totaled 100 percent disability, without a single disability that alone totaled 100 percent disability, was not sufficient for § 1114(s) eligibility. Lionel Guerra (plaintiff) was a United States Marines veteran who had been disabled as a result of multiple injuries suffered during combat in the Vietnam War. Guerra had disabilities from gunshot wounds, post-traumatic stress disorder, and neuropathy that totaled as high as 70 percent individually, and more than 100 percent collectively for a rating of total disability, but none of his disabilities totaled 100 percent individually. Guerra’s attempt to claim § 1114(s) benefits eventually came before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The court denied his application, holding that he was ineligible because none of his disabilities were individually rated as total. Guerra appealed.