Court Certifies Class Action in NVLSP Lawsuit Challenging Air Force’s
Denial of Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) Rights and Process
–Thousands of Air Force Servicemembers and Veterans
Wrongfully Denied Medical Retirement Rights and Procedures–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 02, 2026
ARLINGTON, VA—On January 16, 2026, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia certified a class action in Watts v. Meink, a lawsuit brought by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), on behalf of Ms. Kathleen Watts, Mr. Robert Newman, Mr. Ryan Miller, and a class of similarly situated Air Force servicemembers and veterans who were unlawfully denied access to the medical retirement process.
The litigation challenges an Air Force policy that pre-screens service members before allowing them to enter the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES), the congressionally mandated process for determining fitness for duty and eligibility for military medical retirement. There are many rights afforded to service members in IDES, including access to free military counsel; a full and fair Medical Evaluation Board process and an opportunity to appeal; and a Physical Evaluation Board process, including a hearing and an opportunity to appeal.
Under the challenged policy, service members were denied entry into IDES altogether, stripping them of these mandatory protections. Each of the named plaintiffs was returned to duty and denied medical retirement consideration solely due to this pre-screening process.
The complaint alleges that the Air Force’s pre-screening process violates the Due Process Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act, by failing to comply with mandatory requirements in 10 U.S.C. § 1071 and U.S. Department of Defense Instruction (“DoDI”) 1332.18.
An Air Force servicemember who is medically retired is entitled to monthly retirement payments and military medical care (“Tricare”) for the servicemember, their spouse, and the servicemember’s children while they remain dependents.
Plaintiffs sought class certification because the Air Force’s Pre-IDES policy caused the same harm to every affected servicemember: denial of access to the IDES. In briefing supporting class certification, Plaintiffs emphasized they were not seeking any particular determination regarding their fitness or discharge type since doing so might raise different issues of fact. Rather, they sought an order compelling the Air Force to fully abandon its unlawful Pre-IDES policy and provide all affected servicemembers the medical retirement process guaranteed by law.
The Air Force opposed class certification, claiming the class was not ascertainable, because they would be required to review thousands of records if a class was certified. The Air Force alleged it did not maintain readily accessible records that would permit class relief. The Plaintiffs’ reply noted that the Air Force’s failure to maintain records was not a valid basis under the law to deny class certification.
The Court agreed with Plaintiffs. In certifying the class, the Court recognized that the Air Force’s policy inflicted a single, uniform injury to all affected servicemembers: denial of access to IDES itself. The certified class includes:
All current and former members of the United States Air Force, including the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, who, from July 1, 2019, to the present, (A) met the criteria for referral into the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (“IDES”) under Department of Defense Instruction 1332.18 § 5.2, and (B) who were referred into the Air Force’s Pre-IDES, and did not receive access to IDES.
“This ruling allows thousands of Air Force servicemembers and veterans to seek the process Congress guaranteed them,” said Esther Leibfarth, Senior Managing Attorney at NVLSP. “No one should lose access to medical retirement protections through an unlawful procedural shortcut.” The NVLSP team also includes Director of Lawyers Serving Warriors® Rochelle Bobroff and Staff Attorney Matthew Handley.
About NVLSP
The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is an independent, nonprofit veterans service organization that has served active duty military personnel and veterans since 1981. NVLSP strives to ensure that our nation honors its commitment to its 18 million veterans and active duty personnel by ensuring they have the benefits they have earned through their service to our country. NVLSP has represented veterans in lawsuits that compelled enforcement of the law where the VA or other military services denied benefits to veterans in violation of the law. NVLSP’s success in these lawsuits has resulted in more than $7.2 billion dollars being awarded in disability, death and medical benefits to hundreds of thousands of veterans and their survivors. NVLSP offers training for attorneys and other advocates; connects veterans and active duty personnel with pro bono legal help when seeking disability benefits; publishes the nation’s definitive guide on veteran benefits; and represents and litigates for veterans and their families before the VA, military discharge review agencies and federal courts. For more information, go to nvlsp.org.
Media contact:
Patty Briotta, office 202-621-5698, patty@nvlsp.org