Rawlins v. United States

• Decision Date: 11 August 1982
• Docket Number: No. 456-79C.,456-79C.
• Citation: 686 F.2d 903
• Parties: Edward White RAWLINS v. The UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Claims Court

686 F.2d 903

Edward White RAWLINS v. The UNITED STATES.

No. 456-79C.

United States Court of Claims.

August 11, 1982.

Alan S. Weitz, Washington, D. C., attorney of record, for plaintiff; Ginsburg, Feldman, Weil & Bress, Washington, D. C., of counsel.

Virginia I. Bell, Washington, D. C., with whom was Asst. Atty. Gen. J. Paul McGrath, Washington, D. C., for defendant; Captain Geoffrey P. Lyon, Dept. of the Navy, Washington, D. C., of counsel.

Before COWEN, Senior Judge, and DAVIS and NICHOLS, Judges.

COWEN, Senior Judge:

Plaintiff is a former commander in the United States Navy who voluntarily retired in 1951 after 27 years of service. He instituted suit in this court pursuant to Private Law 95-60, 92 Stat. 3817 (1978), "An Act conferring jurisdiction upon the United States Court of Claims to hear, determine and render judgment upon the claim of Commander Edward White Rawlins, United States Navy (retired)." Plaintiff contends that defendant's failure to promote him to the rank of captain was improper, inequitable, arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and in violation of the United States Constitution, federal statute and Navy regulations.

In his motion for summary judgment, plaintiff requests an award of damages of $109,084.59 as a result of his allegedly wrongful nonpromotion by the Navy, an order directing the Navy to pay him the current net pay of a retired captain with 31 years active service, and corresponding survivors benefits for his survivors and beneficiaries, plus prejudgment interest, attorney's fees and costs. Defendant has filed a cross-motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of plaintiff's petition. After hearing oral argument and reviewing the record, we grant plaintiff's motion in part and remand the case to the trial division to determine the amount of plaintiff's recovery and for further proceedings on the claim for attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

I.

Edward White Rawlins was appointed to the United States Naval Academy in 1920 and graduated 50th in his class of 525. In 1924 he was appointed an ensign in the Regular Navy. Plaintiff served continuously in the Navy until 1951, having achieved his last promotion to the rank of commander in July 1942.

Following his retirement from the Navy in 1951, Rawlins diligently pursued his efforts to obtain a retroactive promotion to the rank of captain. Between 1953 and 1978, 22 different legislative proposals were introduced in Congress in his behalf.

S. 881, 91st Cong., 1st Sess., was introduced on February 4, 1969, and provides in part:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any commitment in conflict with this Act, Commander Edward White Rawlins * * * shall for all purposes, nunc pro tunc, be deemed to have been promoted to the grade of captain on the active list of the Regular Navy on July 1, 1947, to have served continuously in such grade until June 30, 1955, and on this later date to have been placed on the retired list in such grade * * *.

The United States shall reimburse Edward White Rawlins in full for all expenses, including attorneys' fees, incurred by him in his efforts to secure the relief which this Act grants to him.

In 1969, by means of Senate Resolution 96, 91st Cong., 1st Sess., Congress referred Senate Bill 881 to the Chief Commissioner of the United States Court of Claims. That resolution required the court to:

Report to the Senate, at the earliest practicable date, its findings of fact and conclusions thereon as shall be sufficient to inform the Congress (a) of the nature and character of his demand, as a claim legal or equitable, against the United States, (b) whether Commander Rawlins suffered non-promotion to the grade of captain as a probable consequence of any arbitrary, capricious, inadvertent, improper, inequitable, or wrongful act or action or combinations thereof by or within the Department of the Navy, and (c) in such event, the amount legally or equitably due from the United States to the claimant, notwithstanding the lapse of time and any statement of limitations or laches.

The chief commissioner assigned the case to a trial commissioner of the court, who conducted a trial and subsequently filed an opinion, findings of fact and conclusions of law. A review panel of three commissioners adopted the majority of the trial commissioner's opinion and his findings of fact. The review panel concluded that:

An improper and inaccurate evaluation of plaintiff's performance of his duties during the period from April 20, 1942 to February 27, 1943, was responsible, at least principally, for the plaintiff's non-promotion to the grade of Captain * * *. (Rawlins v. United States, 197 Ct.Cl. 972, 1016 (1972)).

The review panel further concluded that the fact that the Navy failed to promote the plaintiff, a commander of better than average competency, to the grade of captain, when all the other commanders of average and better than average competency with whom he was in competition were promoted, was "unwarranted discrimination against the plaintiff that amounted to inequitable treatment of him by the Department of the Navy." Id. at 1016. The review panel informed the Senate:

(1) that Commander Edward White Rawlins, the plaintiff, has an equitable — but not a legal — claim against the United States, the defendant, (2) that the plaintiff suffered nonpromotion to the grade of captain as a probable consequence of improper and inequitable actions within Department of the Navy, and (3) that there is equitably due the plaintiff a retroactive promotion to the grade of captain on the active list of the Regular Navy as of July 1, 1947, and retroactive retirement in the grade as of July 1, 1951 (the date of the plaintiff's actual retirement).

Id. at 1017.

Congress responded with the introduction of more legislation designed to provide plaintiff his relief. Because of a House of Representatives rule precluding direct awards by Congress in military promotion cases, Congress enacted Private Law 95-60 which provides, in pertinent part:

Notwithstanding any statute of limitations pertaining to suits against the United States, or any lapse of time, or bars of laches, jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the United States Court of Claims to hear, determine, and render judgment upon any claim of Commander Edward White Rawlins, United States Navy (retired) * * * arising out of his claim for retroactive active-duty pay and allowances and retirement pay due him as a result of nonpromotion to the grade of captain, such nonpromotion allegedly being the probable consequence of improper and inequitable actions within the Department of the Navy.

* * * * * *

Nothing in this Act shall be construed as an inference of liability on the part of the United States. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, proceedings for the determination of such claim and review and payment of any judgment or judgments on such claim shall be had in the same manner as in the case of claims over which such court has jurisdiction under Section 1491 of title 28 of the United States Code.

After plaintiff filed suit in this court pursuant to Private Law 95-60, the Government moved for dismissal of plaintiff's petition, arguing that this court is without jurisdiction to entertain plaintiff's claim. This court disagreed and, in the course of doing so, held that: (1) Private Law 95-60 authorized plaintiff's suit for back pay, but no claim for retroactive promotion; (2) Private Law 95-60 not only removed the procedural bars to plaintiff's suit but also created a new cause of action, the elements of which are plainly set forth in the statute, and (3) Rawlins need only show "in a formal hearing on the merits" that he was wrongfully denied promotion in order to be entitled to money damages. Rawlins v. United States, 225 Ct.Cl. ___, ___, 646 F.2d 459, 461-62 (1980). (Hereinafter referred to as Rawlins I.)

II.

In his motion for summary judgment, plaintiff contends that the doctrine of collateral estoppel binds these parties to the findings of fact made by the trial commissioner and adopted by the review panel in the congressional reference proceeding. Under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, a final judgment in a prior suit precludes relitigation of issues actually litigated and necessary to the outcome of the first action. Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 326, n.5, 99 S.Ct. 645, 649, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979). The defect in plaintiff's argument is, however, that here there has been no "final judgment" in a "prior suit." It is true that:

Whenever any board, tribunal or person is by law vested with authority to judicially determine a question, such a determination, when it has become final, is as conclusive as though the adjudication had been made by a court of general jurisdiction. Freeman On Judgments, 5th Ed., Vol. II, § 633, p. 1335.

Tidewater Oil Company v. Jackson, 320 F.2d 157, 161 (10th Cir.), cert. denied 375 U.S. 942, 84 S.Ct. 347, 11 L.Ed.2d 273 (1963).

However, in a congressional reference proceeding, neither the trial commissioner nor the review panel is vested with such authority. A congressional reference proceeding is not the equivalent of a law suit, because the determinations of the panel do not result in a final judgment. Conclusions of law made by a congressional reference review panel are mere recommendations to Congress as to whether a plaintiff has presented equitable grounds for recovery. While Congress has, for the most part, agreed with review panel recommendations, it reserves the right to disagree.¹ Therefore, the findings and conclusions of the review panel have no collateral estoppel effect.

This is not to say that the evidence introduced at the congressional reference proceeding is of no value whatsoever. A congressional reference proceeding is indeed adversarial and there are many similarities between the procedures of congressional reference cases and those of cases within the general...