VA Secretary Faces Wrongful Death Suit

[babylonsister]

VA Secretary Faces Wrongful Death Suit


Thursday July 26, 2007 6:46 PM

By JENNIFER C. KERR

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The family of an Iraq war veteran filed suit Thursday accusing Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson of negligence in the suicide death of their son.

The lawsuit says the VA is to blame for the death of 23-year-old Jeffrey Lucey, a Marine who killed himself in June 2004 after he allegedly was denied mental health care following a tour in Iraq.

The lawsuit seeking unspecified damages names Nicholson, who is leaving his job, and the U.S. government as defendants.

The action comes just days after the group Veterans for Common Sense sued Nicholson and the VA on behalf of injured Iraq war veterans. That lawsuit accuses the agency of unlawfully denying the veterans disability pay and mental health treatment.

Lucey's father, Kevin, says he and his wife hope their lawsuit will force the Bush administration to take swift action to fix the VA.

more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6807539,00.html

[SteppingRazor]

1. Best they can hope for is publicity, I fear.

This'll get thrown out of court quicker than you can say "qualified immunity."

[babylonsister]

2. He resigned, or was fired, recently. Would he still have immunity? nt

[SteppingRazor]

3. Sure, for acts carried out while in the employ of the government

Suing Nicholson for this tragedy is a bit like trying to sue Bush over the deaths post-Katrina in New Orleans. You'd have to prove that Nicholson had personally carried out actions that a "reasonable person" would have known were illegal or unconstitutional. Simply saying he was negligent isn't enough.

And while that sucks in this case, in the long run, it's a good thing. Can you imagine the thousands of crippling lawsuits that every yahoo would be throwing at the president the day he/she went into office?

Anyway, all that said, if this lawsuit helps reform the VA, then it's still worth it, regardless of the legal outcome.

[babylonsister]

4. Makes sense - thanks, though I do feel sorry for this family. I know there

are way too many others out there.

[SteppingRazor]

5. Yeah, tip of the iceberg.

Like I said in my last post, it's a terrible tragedy. The whole thing is.

[northernsoul]

6. hate to say it, but you're probably right

We've had to turn down several cases against the VA because they're borderline impossible to get an economically feasible result from.