F.F. vs. Denis McDonough
Court Victory: Veteran Secures Remand for Hypertension Claim Due to VA’s Failure to Provide Hearing Notice
We are proud to announce another important victory for our client, a U.S. Army veteran, at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
On April 2025, the Court granted a joint motion to vacate part of the Board’s March 3, 2023, decision. The Court remanded Mr. Farner’s claim for service connection for hypertension for further development and readjudication.
The Court’s order centered on a critical error by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA failed to notify Mr. Farner of his right to request a pre-decisional hearing before the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) made its April 2021 decision.
Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(d)(1), veterans are entitled to a hearing before the VA issues an initial or supplemental decision. A veteran’s right to fair process also requires proper notice and an opportunity to respond during claim development. See Bryant v. Wilkie, 33 Vet.App. 43, 46 (2020).
The Board should have remanded the claim under 38 C.F.R. § 20.802(a) to correct the VA’s procedural error. Instead, it denied the claim without addressing the hearing notice issue, leading to the Court’s intervention.
The Court ordered the Board to remand the matter to the AOJ. The AOJ must now provide Mr. Farner with notice of his right to request a pre-decisional hearing and then readjudicate the claim.
We remain committed to protecting veterans’ due process rights and fighting for the benefits they have earned.
