AFSA NEWS 76 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 2024 Annual Report: Legal Defense Fund The AFSA Legal Defense Fund supported two requests for assistance in 2024 totaling $35,000. In the first request, the LDF Committee voted unanimously to approve $15,000 to defray a portion of a member’s legal expenses to pursue disability benefits relating to an anomalous health incident (AHI). The committee noted that this member petitioned the fund in 2022 and was awarded $10,000 to offset some of the costs incurred litigating a worker’s compensation case before the Department of Labor (DOL). The member was forced to appeal the case to the DOL because the State Department had denied the claim. The member was subsequently successful at the DOL. In the second request, also AHI-related, the committee voted unanimously to approve $20,000 to support a lawsuit challenging the State Department’s denial of benefits under the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks Act (HAVANA Act). Congress passed the HAVANA Act in 2021, authorizing one-time payments for individuals with qualifying brain injuries. The department, however, has denied benefits to some employees, arguing that their injuries were not connected to qualifying incidents. Attorneys from two law firms experienced in such matters will represent the plaintiffs at a significantly reduced flat fee of $20,000. AFSA itself is one of the plaintiffs. The fund ended calendar year 2024 with $410,691. Member dues are not used for the LDF. It is funded through donations and, occasionally, through attorney fees paid by the agencies when AFSA prevails in a case before the Foreign Service Grievance Board. In 2024, $4,561 was raised through donations from members and supporters. The foreign affairs agencies paid a total of $124,012.50 in attorney fees into the fund in 2024. The Legal Defense Fund was created in 2007. The fund provides financial assistance, typically to one to two members a year, whose cases present legal issues of far-reaching significance to the Foreign Service as a whole. Such cases often involve issues of due process, fundamental fairness, or, as noted above, the employee’s performance of his or her official duties. The LDF enables members to retain private attorneys with expertise in a particular area of law, such as federal workers’ compensation law or litigation before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, that AFSA attorneys do not have. In other cases, while AFSA staff possess the legal expertise to represent the member, they do not have the necessary time to represent the member due to the high number of cases and labor management issues they handle. For additional information about the LDF Fund, please visit https://afsa.org/donate. —Jay Carreiro, LDF Committee Chair n DACOR Memorial Day Service Per its yearly tradition, DACOR held a Memorial Day service on May 26 at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Established in 1964 as a civilian complement to Arlington National Cemetery, DACOR’s dedicated memorial section at the cemetery preserves the memory of more than 1,100 Foreign Service officers and their families. AFSA State Vice President Tina Wong, DACOR President Angela Dickey, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) President Susan Johnson, and DACOR member Lucy Melbourne gave remarks about the enduring legacy of those buried in the Memorial Section. This year, said Wong in her remarks, the Foreign Service lost trailblazers including Ambassadors Ruth Davis and Lino Gutiérrez. Wong reminded attendees of their collective strength in the face of adversity and the community’s critical need to care for one another. The event brought together dozens of active duty, retiree, and family members in solemn memory of loved ones in the Foreign Service and in solidarity with all those who continue to serve and shape our institution. A recording of the event is available at https://bit.ly/ MemorialDayDACOR. n Diplomatic community members gather at DACOR’s Memorial Day ceremony. JENIFER MORRIS
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