90,000 Veterans Could Get VA Disability Appeals Reopened After Decades

July 9, 2026

“More than 90,000 veterans and surviving family members are now covered by a proposed class action settlement in Freund v. Collins, a lawsuit forcing the Department of Veterans Affairs to go back through decades of disability appeals, its own tracking system shut down in error, often without the veteran ever knowing.

A federal court will decide whether to make the deal final at a fairness hearing on Aug. 13. If approved, appeals that vanished as far back as 1990 will be reactivated, and claims that win could pay compensation all the way back to the original filing date.”