United States District Court, District of Columbia
CYNTHIA L. ROSEBERRY-ANDREWS, Plaintiff,
HEATHER WILSON, Secretary of the Air Force, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
TIMOTHY J. KELLY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
proceeding pro se, challenges a number of decisions
by the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records
(the “Board”) denying her requests to modify her
military records. She asks this Court to rule that these
denials were arbitrary and capricious and to remand to the
Board for a number of forms of relief, including monetary
compensation. Defendant moves to dismiss the case for lack of
subject matter jurisdiction, or, alternatively, for summary
judgment. The Court concludes that
Roseberry-Andrews' request for monetary relief divests
this Court of subject matter jurisdiction over her complaint.
As a result, the Court transfers the case to the Court of
Factual and Procedural Background
Master Sergeant Cynthia Roseberry-Andrews enlisted in the Air
National Guard in 1982. AR 18. After twelve years in the Air
National Guard, she transferred to the United States Air
Force Reserve's “Individual Mobilization
Augmentee” (“IMA”) program. Compl. ¶
3; AR 18. An IMA is a part-time reservist who is assigned to
an active-duty unit. Def.'s MTD at 2. In August 2002,
Roseberry-Andrews accepted a position as a Program Manager in
the Human Resources Directorate at the Defense Contract
Management Agency (“DCMA”). Compl. ¶ 10.
alleges that she was harmed in a number of ways while serving
at the DCMA. Broadly speaking, her allegations fall into two
categories. First, Roseberry-Andrews alleges that two of her
active-duty orders should have been medically extended due to
an ankle injury that she suffered, which would have provided
her various employment-related benefits. Second, she alleges
that various Air Force personnel retaliated against her in a
number of ways for claiming that certain Air Force personnel
had engaged in improper conduct.
Roseberry-Andrews' Ankle Injuries While Serving on
injured her ankle twice while serving on active-duty orders.
She was placed on active-duty orders from January 1, 2003, to
May 28, 2004. AR 5. In August 2003, she fell while conducting
agility and obedience training with a show dog, severely
injuring her left ankle. Compl. ¶ 39; AR 8. The injury
was determined to be in the “line of duty, ”
meaning she was on active duty and did not act negligently or
irresponsibly in causing it. Compl. ¶ 40; AR 30-31. On
March 25, 2004, Roseberry-Andrews underwent reconstructive
ankle surgery. Compl. ¶ 42. After the surgery, she went
on convalescent leave for thirty days because she could not
drive to work. Id. ¶¶ 48-50, 55. When she
returned to work, Roseberry-Andrews expected to be placed on
active duty while undergoing physical therapy, but instead
she was placed on incapacitation pay for six months.
Id. ¶¶ 56-57, 59. Thus, her active-duty
orders for this tour ended on May 28, 2004. AR 8.
November 2005, DCMA selected Roseberry-Andrews for an
active-duty deployment to the Middle East from September 2,
2006, to April 15, 2007. Id. ¶ 82. During that
deployment, she reinjured her ankle. Id. ¶ 84.
Upon returning to the United States, her post-deployment
physician referred her to an orthopedic clinic. Id.
¶ 85. An orthopedic examination revealed that
Roseberry-Andrews' ankle was broken in two places,
necessitating two more surgeries and additional physical
therapy. Id. ¶ 86. Roseberry-Andrews was placed
on “Medical Hold” and her active-duty orders were
not extended beyond April 15, 2007. Id. ¶¶
Retaliation Against Roseberry-Andrews
also alleges that various Air Force personnel engaged in
“unlawful personnel practices.” Id.
¶ 11. She claims that when she refused to participate in
those practices, those personnel, including Captain Michael
Godwin and Colonel Mary Purdue, retaliated against her in
number of ways. For instance, Roseberry-Andrews alleges that:
. In February 2004, Roseberry-Andrews
received a Letter of Counseling alleging that she sent an
email to Captain Goodwin that was “condescending,
confrontational, and disrespectful.” Id.
. In March 2004, Colonel Purdue called a
military human resources office to inquire whether
Roseberry-Andrews had been “erroneously enlisted”
in hopes of removing her from the military. Id.
¶¶ 27, 35; AR 5. She was properly enlisted. Compl.
. Before Roseberry-Andrews' ankle
surgery in March 2004, Colonel Purdue called Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center to see whether the surgery
could be cancelled and whether Roseberry-Andrews could return
to work immediately after the surgery. Id.
¶¶ 45-54. The hospital declined these requests.
Id. ¶¶ 48, 54.
. On May 18, 2004, Lieutenant Colonel Karen
Cox issued a Letter of Reprimand to Roseberry-Andrews and
established an Unfavorable Information File. Id.
¶¶ 67, 71; AR 129-35.
. In June 2005, Captain Godwin issued an
unfavorable Enlisted Performance Report (“EPR”)
stating that, among other things, he had “lost faith
and confidence in [Roseberry-Andrews'] ability to conduct
herself in a manner befitting a [Senior Non-Commissioned
Officer].” Compl. ¶¶ 72-73; AR 136-37;
Def.'s MTD at 6 n.1.
. After Roseberry-Andrews had redeployed in
April 2007, she requested to be transferred to the DCMA
General Counsel's Office (“DCMA-GC”) as an
Advisor-Paralegal. Compl. ¶ 92. DCMA-GC submitted the
transfer request, AR 170-71, but Michael McLaughlin (then the
Director of Human Resources at DCMA) instead converted the
billet for Roseberry-Andrews' paralegal position to an
Aircraft Avionics position in Palmdale, California. Compl.
¶¶ 100-102; AR 172. McLaughlin informed
Roseberry-Andrews that she would be moved to the Individual
Ready Reserve unless she could find another position in her
specialty in six months. AR 172.
. Roseberry-Andrews did not receive payment
for 105 days of work that she performed between July 1, 2008,
and October 13, 2008 Compl. ¶ 96.
. On April 1, 2009, McLaughlin and others
transferred Roseberry-Andrews to the Individual Ready Reserve
Id. ¶ 104. Roseberry-Andrews ultimately was
able to reenlist after briefing the Chief of Military
Personnel for the Air Force Reserve. Id.
time the complaint was filed, Roseberry-Andrews continued to
serve as an IMA reservist in the Air Force. Id.
Roseberry-Andrews' Efforts to Seek ...