A Manatt pro bono team successfully appealed to obtain a military discharge upgrade for a female Navy veteran who survived years of sexual and domestic abuse by other sailors during her service.
The Navy veteran, referred to here as “L.M.", served honorably for two years as a Fireman Apprentice and Engineman on a tugboat, where she was subjected to rampant harassment and forced into a persistent and ongoing sexual relationship with her Commanding Officer. L.M. entered a relationship with another sailor, who abused her both physically and financially and forced her to be an accomplice to a variety of check fraud schemes, resulting in L.M.'s arrest.
At the time of her arrest, L.M. was eight months pregnant with her abuser's child while grappling with abuse-related symptoms. Rather than give birth in prison, L.M. accepted an offer to avoid prison by pleading guilty and receiving an Other Than Honorable discharge—which disqualified L.M. from being eligible for a series of VA benefits and acted as a significant blemish on her time in service.
In 2019, L.M. applied for a discharge upgrade but was denied even though L.M.'s case was entitled to significant deference in light of military guidance. In reaching this decision, the Board for Correction of Naval Records (“BCNR") relied upon a psychologist's Advisory Opinion that incorrectly concluded—without ever interviewing L.M.—that there was no evidence of abuse at the time of her discharge.
Manatt filed an appeal with the BCNR to reconsider L.M.'s application, emphasizing procedural deficiencies in BCNR's previous review and urging BCNR to adopt a broader, more modern understanding of MST-induced PTSD that accounts for both economic abuses and coerced criminal behavior. In that appeal, Manatt identified significant evidence of L.M.'s trauma that the BCNR psychologist overlooked. In addition, Manatt obtained an expert witness report from a clinical psychologist specializing in military sexual trauma (MST) and PTSD who, after reviewing L.M.'s medical history and military records and conducting a clinical evaluation of L.M., concluded that L.M.'s criminal misconduct was a directly related to her MST. As a result, the Board reconsidered L.M.'s application and upgraded her discharge to Honorable, clearing her military record.
The case was referred to Manatt by pro bono partner Inner City Law Center. The Manatt team representing L.M. included Partners Brandon Reilly, Joshua Drian and Andrew Zimmitti and Associates Douglas Smith, Marisa McGrenera, Russell Potter and Carolyn Sharzer.