If approved by a federal court, the legal settlement will force the Army to review the discharges of recent veterans with mental health issues.
Tens of thousands of former soldiers with less than honorable discharges from the Army might get upgrades soon. In late March, a federal judge is expected to approve a nationwide class action settlement that would force the Army to reevaluate and possibly upgrade those discharges to honorable if there’s evidence of a mental health condition.
The agreement calls on the Army to go back and look at thousands of less than honorable discharges for soldiers who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. If they had a condition like post-traumatic stress disorder or a brain injury, they can become eligible to upgrade their discharges and get access to benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs.