What's New
| VA Secretary Pressed by Senator on High Percentage of Wrongly Denied Benefit Claims |
March 16, 2010, Washington, DC (CQ Politics) - A leading Republican senator on Tuesday asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to explain why so many veterans’ benefit claims are wrongly denied, resulting in a high rate of reversal on appeal. |
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| Profile of New Veterans' Courts in New York Times |
Defendants Fresh From War Find Service Counts in Court - VCS Supports Veterans' Courts March 15, 2010, Charleston, West Virginia (New York Times) — When Judge Robert C. Chambers handed down Timothy Oldani’s federal sentence for selling stolen military equipment on eBay, he gave the former Marine a break. |
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| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
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| Philanthropist Bobby Willis to Build New $3.3 Billion Hospital for VA in Farmington, NM for Rural and Native American Veterans |
Proposed state-of-the-art Kirtland veterans clinic could provide as many as 8,000 jobs March 14, 2010, Farmington, New Mexico (Farmington Daily Times) — A proposed veterans complex in Kirtland centered around a new hospital, backed by a wealthy entrepreneur and costing an estimated $3.3 billion promises to bring state-of-the-art medicine and other benefits to veterans, as well as 8,000 jobs to the local economy. |
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| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
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Disabled Iraq War Veteran with Service Dog Beaten by McDonalds Employee
Written by Barbara Leonard
Wednesday, 18 November 2009 17:06
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October 30, 2009, Brooklyn, New York (Courthouse News Service) - A disabled Army captain who was wounded in Iraq claims McDonald's employees beat him with garbage can lids after he brought his service dog to the restaurant. Luis Montalvan says the attack came as he was photographing the restaurant after he repeatedly complained about the treatment he received there. Montalvan says he became disabled after 17 years in the Army and began using a service dog named Tuesday in November 2008. Montalvan says he was wounded with knives and hand grenades during his first tour of duty in Iraq, and developed post traumatic stress disorder, in addition to his spinal cord damage and brain injury. He was awarded a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars, according to his federal complaint. He says that when he brought his dog Tuesday to McDonald's, the employees told him he had to leave his "pet" outside. Montalvan replied that Tuesday was a service animal, not a pet, as indicated by the bright red vest the dog wore. He says the employees continued to make him unwelcome and uncomfortable by hovering over him and glaring at him. He says the rude treatment brought on a panic attack that hurt his performance on final exams at Columbia University, where he is enrolled in a master's program in journalism. Montalvan says he complained about the treatment he received, and McDonald's area supervisor Claudia Alvarez apologized and said employees would receive training to help disabled customers. Six weeks later Montalvan says he returned to the McDonald's with Tuesday, but manager Carlos Sala said the dog was not allowed in the restaurant, despite a new sign welcoming service animals. Montalvan says he explained that service animals are allowed in public restaurants under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but Sala said he was a new manager and had not been trained with on the ADA. Two days later, Montalvan says returned to the restaurant to find that it had been shut down for health code violations. He says he took some photos of the place, and then unidentified McDonald's employees beat him with garbage can lids, pinching a nerve that forced him to use a neck brace for 8 weeks. Montalvan seeks punitive damages for ADA violations, discrimination, and assault and battery. He is represented by David Lackowitz with Gersten Savage. |