Citation Nr: 21023393
Decision Date: 04/20/21	Archive Date: 04/20/21

DOCKET NO. 16-20 448
DATE: April 20, 2021

ORDER

The Veteran’s motion to vacate the December 2020 Board of Veterans’ Appeal (Board) decision that denied service connection for B-cell leukemia, to include as due to exposure to herbicide agents, is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The letter offing the Veteran a new hearing due to a faulty transcription error was mistakenly sent to the wrong representative.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria to vacate the December 2020 Board decision that denied service connection for B-cell leukemia, to include as due to exposure to herbicide agents, have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 7104; 38 C.F.R. §§ 19.4, 19.7, 20.904.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active service from April 1968 to June 1971.

The Veteran had a hearing in January 2019.  However, a transcript was not able to be produced.  The Veteran was notified of this in a July 2020 letter and offered another hearing.  However, no response was received.

Thus, the Board issued a decision on this matter in December 2020.  Subsequently, it was discovered the letter offering the Veteran a new hearing was mistakenly sent to the wrong representative.  

Controlling laws and regulations provide that the Board has an obligation to review and consider all evidence of record when adjudicating claims for VA benefits.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. §§ 19.4, 19.7.  They also provide that the Board may vacate an appellate decision at any time upon request of the appellant or his or her representative, or on the Board’s own motion, when an appellant has been denied due process of law or when benefits were allowed based on false or fraudulent evidence.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.904.

With the above criteria in mind, the Board finds that Veteran was denied due process of law as to the claim to service connection for B-cell leukemia as he was not properly made aware of the opportunity for a new hearing.  Accordingly, the Board vacates the December 2020 decision.

 

 

John J. Crowley

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Snoparsky

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.