''Collins v. United States'' is a class-action lawsuit filed on November 10, 2010, against the United States in the

United States Court of Federal Claims The United States Court of Federal Claims (in case citations, Fed. Cl. or C.F.C.) is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. It was established by statute in 1982 as the United States Claims Court, ...

that ended in a settlement on January 7, 2013. The lead plaintiff, former U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Richard Collins, was honorably discharged under "

Don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...

" (DADT) after nine years of service after two civilian co-workers saw him kissing his civilian boyfriend. Once discharged, Collins discovered that his separation pay was half that normally paid to servicemembers separated from the military under the designation "honorably discharged". The

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

(DoD) had an established policy that provided that servicemembers honorably discharged receive half the normal separation pay if they were not eligible for reenlistment. Those discharged as homosexuals under DADT as well as those discharged for medical reasons were ineligible for reenlistment and therefore received half the standard separation pay. On Collins' behalf, the ACLU and the

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network OutServe-SLDN was a network of LGBT military personnel, formed as a result of the merger between OutServe and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. OutServe-SLDN was one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world. OutServe was ...

filed requests for the revision of the policy with the DoD. When the DoD refused that request, Joshua Block of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, Laura Schauer Ives of the ACLU of New Mexico, and Sara Berger of Albuquerque, New Mexico, filed suit on November 10 and opened participation in the case to all veterans discharged under the policy since November 20, 2004. On January 29, 2011, while detailing the repeal of DADT in accordance with the

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (, ) is a landmark United States federal statute enacted in December 2010 that established a process for ending the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy (), thus allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexu ...

, the DoD announced that those discharged under the policy would not receive any additional compensation and that their separation pay would not be adjusted. The ACLU expressed disappointment with the DoD's position. Judge Christine Odell Cook Miller heard arguments in the case on September 22, 2011, two days after the end of the DADT policy. Justice Department lawyer L. Misha Preheim argued on behalf of the government that the Secretary of Defense has sole jurisdiction over back pay for discharged soldiers and that the courts cannot rewrite military regulations. On January 7, 2013, the ACLU reached a settlement with the federal government. It provided for the payment of full separation pay to servicemembers discharged under DADT since November 10, 2004, who had previously been granted only half that. Under this agreement, some 181 were expected to receive about $13,000 each.

References

{{Don't ask, don't tell 2010 in LGBT history Don't ask, don't tell United States LGBT rights case law

See also

References