Harkins v. United States is a significant class action lawsuit filed on behalf of active-duty and reserve Coast Guard members who were involuntarily discharged, forced into early retirement, or otherwise removed from service because of their COVID-19 vaccination status.
Unlike other branches, where federal protections offered some layers of review, many Coast Guard members faced rapid, uncompromising separation—often without the opportunity to appeal, challenge their discharge, or even receive a clear explanation. For some, it meant the abrupt end of a lifelong military career. For others, it meant missed promotions, lost pay, and the denial of benefits they had earned through years of honorable service.
This case includes all former members of the Coast Guard—both Active-Duty and Reserve—who were discharged or constructively forced out for refusing the vaccine, regardless of whether their separation was formal or administrative.
At its core, Harkins v. United States aims to hold the government accountable for these unlawful separations and to restore the careers, compensation, and dignity of those who served with honor, only to be cast aside for standing by their personal convictions.
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If you’re interested in learning about the cases we have already filed and whether we might be able to help you, you’ve come to the right place. In this video, you’ll get an overview of the cases on file and what qualifying criteria are for each.
There are currently three class action cases that have been filed in the Federal Court of Claims seeking back pay for service members who refused to take a COVID-19 vaccine under the Department of Defense’s (“DoD”) COVID-19 vaccine mandate and were discharged, kicked off active-duty, forced into early retirement, involuntarily transferred to the inactive ready reserve, or were denied pay or retirement benefits, for their refusal to do so.
Bassen v. United States (Active-Duty). Bassen is a class action filed on behalf of the approximately 8,500 active-duty service members who were involuntarily discharged due to their unvaccinated status, as well as any other active-duty service members who were forced into early retirement or were constructively discharged due to their vaccination status.
Botello v. United States (National Guard/Reserves). Botello is a class-action seeking back pay and other remedies for 70,000-100,000 members of the Air and Army National Guard, and for reserve members of all services, who were dropped from active-duty orders or active status, denied pay or benefits, or prohibited from participating in drills, training, other duties due to their vaccinated status.
Harkins v. United States (Active-Duty and Reserve). Harkins is a class action filed on behalf of the active-duty and reserve Coast Guard members who were involuntarily discharged due to their unvaccinated status, as well as any other Coast Guard members who were forced into early retirement or were constructively discharged due to their vaccination status.
If you fall into any of the above categories, you may have a claim for back pay, financial compensation or other remedies such as reinstatement or correction of military records.
The first step is to provide the contact information and answer the questions at the link on this site to allow us to preliminarily determine whether you have a claim for back pay.
After that, the Military Back Pay Team will follow up with you to discuss your case and collect additional information.
Signing a representation agreement with Military Back pay attorneys does not obligate you to pursue a case, nor does it obligate the Military Back pay attorneys to represent you or file a case. Either party may terminate at any time. The purpose of the questionnaire and agreement is, among other things, to assist in gathering relevant information and to evaluate whether you have a claim for military back pay.
We cannot provide any estimates of the potential value of your claim or what you may be awarded in a settlement or a judgment. We will first have to closely review the facts of your individual case to determine if you have a claim for military back pay, retirement or financial compensation.
But we can provide some guidance for you to estimate the potential amount of your claim.
If you were involuntarily and wrongfully discharged from active duty, then your entitlement to back pay would be the amount of your annual compensation (salary, benefits, BAH, etc.) for the number of years remaining your contract after the discharge date. There are several online calculators that would allow you to estimate the loss or reduction of retirement benefits due to the unlawful discharged and lost years of service.
The Court of Federal Claims will not, however, award damages for emotional distress, pain, and suffering or consequential losses (e.g., if you could not pay your mortgage due to the discharged and consequently lost your house).
Depending on your circumstances, it may be possible to seek reinstatement, correction of military records, and/or a special selection board if the court finds that you were wrongfully denied promotion.
We expect these cases could take several years to fully resolve. Having said that, the Federal Court of Claims is a specialized court with nearly exclusive jurisdiction over military back pay claims, as well as other specialized areas like vaccine injuries, government contract disputes, and patent and trademark claims. Because the Court is so specialized, it often can resolve cases more quickly than would be typical for federal court. Still, class action cases are complex and there are many people with potential claims. So, currently, we do not believe these cases are likely to resolve in anything less than one year, at a minimum, and more likely not for two or even three years.
It costs you nothing to hire us as your attorneys unless and until you receive back pay or other compensation. Instead, if you retain us, we will represent you under a contingency fee arrangement where you pay no attorney’s fees unless you recover money. If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not owe us anything. If your claim is successful, we will be paid as detailed in a representation and contingent fee agreement we will ask you to sign. This agreement sets forth different ways we will be paid. Depending upon how your claim is resolved, we may be paid pursuant to a settlement with the Government, by an order of the Court, or as a percentage of your recovery. The contingency fee agreement contains the details.
