United States v. Mason, Executor

Background

This appeal arises from a judgment of the Court of Claims that allowed the executor of the late Captain Thomas Mason to collect the difference between his retired pay and a higher captain’s pay from April 16, 1908 until Mason’s death on September 10, 1910. Mason had served with credit during the Civil War and had retired on May 3, 1895 as a First Lieutenant in the Revenue-Cutter Service with reduced pay. After retirement he was advanced one grade by a 1905 law but received no increase in pay from that advancement.

Reasoning

The core question was whether the 1908 law that granted retired officers an advance in rank and three-fourths of the higher grade’s pay should be calculated from the rank held at retirement or from a later unpaid promotion. The Court explained that Congress intended the advance to be based on the grade held at the date of retirement, with three-fourths of the duty pay of the next higher grade. The Court rejected the argument that a gratuitous post-retirement promotion without pay should serve as the basis for a further increase. The opinion notes that the Auditor and Comptroller of the Treasury had reached the same construction.

Real world impact

The ruling means retired Revenue-Cutter officers receive any statutory step-up and three-fourths pay based on their rank at retirement, not on later honorary promotions without pay. As a practical result, the Court reversed the lower judgment and directed that the petition be dismissed, denying the extra pay claim in this case.