Cardoza v. McDonough, 2024 WL 3406910 (Vet. App. July 10, 2024) — Board refusal to docket appeal constituted a final decision for jurisdiction

The appellant filed a VA Form 10182 seeking Board review of an earlier effective date for service connection for a psychiatric disorder while a higher-level review request on the rating issue was also pending. The Board responded with a May 19, 2020 letter stating that it could not accept the appeal because the appellant had already chosen another review option for the same issue. The Secretary moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the letter was not a final Board decision.

The Court denied the motion to dismiss. The majority held that the May 19, 2020 Board letter was a final decision because it denied the relief sought by refusing to docket the appeal and thereby had the same procedural effect as a dismissal, rendering the earlier effective date final. The Court reasoned that the substance of the Board’s action, not its format, controlled jurisdiction. The dissent disagreed, concluding that the letter was only a procedural notice that the claim was still pending elsewhere in VA and did not grant or deny any benefit. The case matters for jurisdictional analysis under the AMA because it recognizes that certain Board correspondence can be a final appealable decision even when it is not a traditional merits decision.

A Board communication may be a final decision under 38 U.S.C. § 7104(d) and appealable under 38 U.S.C. § 7266 when, in substance, it denies the relief sought and has the effect of foreclosing Board review, even if styled as a letter rather than a formal merits decision.

Jurisdiction turns on substance, not label: a Board refusal to docket an AMA appeal can be treated as a final decision if it effectively denies the requested Board review.

It gives veterans and advocates a possible path to judicial review when the Board refuses to docket an appeal through an administrative letter. The decision also warns VA that docketing refusals may be treated as appealable final Board actions, not merely internal case-management notices.

Treating a substantive Board docketing refusal as nonappealable administrative correspondence.

A veteran files a Board appeal on one component of a claim while another review lane is pending, and the Board issues a letter refusing to docket the appeal. Counsel may appeal that refusal to the Veterans Court as a final Board decision.

Use this case to argue jurisdiction when the Board letter effectively adjudicates whether an appeal may proceed and has the practical effect of denying review. It is also useful when challenging VA’s characterization of a Board communication as purely ministerial.

Encarnacion v. McDonough, Kernz v. McDonough, Maggitt v. West, Mintz v. Brown, Dojaquez v. McDonough