Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Gontarz, a member of the Navy Reserve, filed a lawsuit challenging a Defense Department policy that has denied him transition assistance management program benefits. Gontarz is shown in an Oct. 1, 2022, photo. (Dana Rene White/U.S. Navy)
WASHINGTON — A class action lawsuit in federal court is challenging a Defense Department policy that limits transition benefits for health care to only those National Guard and Reserve members whose activation orders were categorized as supporting ‘‘a contingency operation.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that qualifying National Guard and Reserve members are being unlawfully denied transitional assistance management program (TAMP) benefits when their orders are not coded with that specific language in the department’s personnel management system.
The case was filed on April 24 on behalf of Anthony Gontarz, a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve, along with current and former National Guard and reserve members in similar situations, according to attorneys for Gontarz.
Defendants named in the lawsuit are the secretaries of the Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force and Homeland Security.
The lawsuit is asking the court to declare the Defense Department practice illegal, as well as approve TAMP benefits for Gontarz and other class members, according to the complaint.
The federal government has 60 days from the court filing to respond to the complaint. No hearing is currently scheduled.
“As a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation,” the Defense Department said in an email Monday.
TAMP provides six months of premium-free medical and dental coverage following the end of a qualifying period of active duty, according to Defense Department regulations. Beneficiaries enroll in Tricare, the military health insurance program for uniformed members, retirees and their families.
The Defense Department “conditions eligibility for TAMP on whether a service member’s orders are coded as ‘in support of a contingency operation’ in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, the DOD’s internal system for tracking personnel status and benefits eligibility,” according to the lawsuit.
“That requirement does not appear in the statute. Instead, it is imposed through DOD’s implementing regulation,” according to the lawsuit.
Congress defined qualifying service to include activation of more than 30 days during a national emergency declared by the president or Congress without regard to the type of active-duty service, according to the lawsuit.
“TAMP reduces financial strain, prevents gaps in treatment, and protects both individual welfare and overall military readiness. It further reflects Congress’s judgment that those who answer the call to serve should not be left vulnerable when their active-duty orders end,” according to the complaint.
The class action lawsuit stands to affect thousands of current and former National Guard and Reserve members and their families, attorneys said.
“Mr. Gontarz has served his country for over two decades, and he has done so with distinction,” said Jay Jurata, a Navy veteran and one of the attorneys representing him.
The lawsuit states that more than 770,000 men and women serve in a reserve component of the armed forces — the Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard and Coast Guard Reserve.
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, these service members “have been mobilized at historically unprecedented levels, serving in roles indistinguishable from their active-duty counterparts and evolving into an operational force that the nation relies on for sustained global and domestic missions,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues that the Defense Department’s actions represent a “contrary, extra-statutory policy” that denies benefits to otherwise eligible service members based on an internal administrative coding requirement.
The complaint refers to technical information in the military’s Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, also known as DEERS.
The system processes, tracks and manages data about a service member’s activation orders, duty status and separation, according to the military.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys are the National Veterans Legal Services Program, a nonprofit based in Virginia, and Dechert LLP, a global law firm specializing in complex legal cases involving financial and regulatory matters.
“Congress made a clear promise to reserve service members: If you are called to serve your country during a national emergency, you will not be left without health care when you return home,” said Esther Leibfarth, a senior managing attorney with the National Veterans Legal Services Program.
“The Department of Defense cannot rewrite that promise through internal coding rules that have no basis in law. This case is about enforcing the law and ensuring that those who serve are not left without the benefits they earned,” Leibfarth said.
The complaint notes that the Defense Department is referred to as the Department of War as a secondary title, per executive order by President Donald Trump.
But the department’s official, legal name remains the “Department of Defense until modified by Congress,” according to the lawsuit.
