A Hamden veteran who is suing the government for damages was in federal court Thursday in Bridgeport.
Conley Monk Jr. filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs last November on behalf of himself and on behalf of his deceased father, over racial disparities in benefits programs that his legal team says caused emotional distress.
Thursday’s hearing before a federal judge was for both sides to share arguments for and against the government’s motion to dismiss Monk’s lawsuit.
“This is a wonderful day, to know that we have a chance to get some sort of justice,” said Monk as he walked into the federal courthouse in Bridgeport.
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Monk, a Vietnam Veteran, was there with his Yale University legal team after years of what his Yale legal team says was discrimination in benefit approvals by the VA.
“I couldn’t get any educational benefits, I couldn’t get any housing benefits, and what hurt me the most was my family,” Monk said. “My kids weren’t able to get educational benefits they were entitled to.”
Monk is among thousands of Black veterans that for generations were historically denied health, education, and housing benefits at a much higher rate than white veterans. Monk’s father served in World War II and was also denied benefits, and so he is also named in the lawsuit. The Monk family is seeking $1 million in the suit.
“Mr. Monk and [National Veterans’ Council for Legal Redress] argued that they suffered emotional, dignitary, and psychological harms from being subjected to the VA’s racially discriminatory benefits system,” said Deja Morehead, a member of Monk’s legal team from the Yale Law School Legal Services Clinic.
The VA has released several reports in the last year confirming what many have long believed. On Thursday the VA released new data to NBC News through a Freedom of Information Act request that shows the racial disparities in benefit approvals also spanned between 2003 and 2023.
“And we hope that the court ultimately recognizes the legal duty that the VA owes to the Monk family, to generations of Black veterans, to administer benefits in a non-discriminatory manner,” Morehead said.
Gary Monk is Conley’s brother, a veteran and executive director of their organization, National Veterans Council for Legal Redress.
“I feel there’s a lot of guilt with the country with how they treated their veterans, and so the motion to dismiss doesn’t surprise me because they’re continuing to deny us as usual,” Gary Monk said.
Attorneys for the government declined to comment after court. The decision is now up to a federal judge, who said it would be a tough one to make.
“We’ll continue to fight,” said Conley Monk. “We have a good team and I pray to God that we win this case.”
