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The Brandon Act modifies the requirement for referring a member of the armed forces for a mental health evaluation. It requires commanding officers and supervisors to make referrals as soon as practicable and requires that the referral process protect the confidentiality of the member.
What the Act does is narrower than the coverage around it suggests. It changes how a referral is made and protects the member who seeks one from reprisal. It does not change what a command may do with what the evaluation finds. Joseph L. Jordan, Attorney at Law represents service members in all six branches, and the space between what the statute protects and what a command can still act on is where these cases arise.
The law is named for Brandon Caserta, a Navy aviation electrician’s mate striker who died by suicide on June 25, 2018, at age 21. His parents, Patrick and Teri Caserta, worked to create the legislation.
About Brandon Caserta
While serving at Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 28 in Norfolk, Virginia, Brandon was subjected to sustained mistreatment by a supervisor. According to his family, no one in his chain of command acted on his requests for help, and he believed that pursuing the issue further would carry career consequences. His family has said that his father’s attempt to contact the command about his welfare was followed by retaliation.
Brandon left notes for his parents and friends.
The Command Environment
According to the account his family has given publicly, the supervisor’s treatment of subordinates was known within the command. He was counseled in writing following complaints about his conduct and was directed to apologize. He was temporarily removed from the command and reinstated approximately two weeks later. Shortly after reinstatement, he was verbally counseled again in connection with reports of vulgar and sexist conduct. He remained in the command.
These are the family’s public statements about the case. The individual has not been publicly identified and has not been charged.
What the Brandon Act Does
Read closely, the statute governs the referral, not what follows it. It obliges commanders and supervisors to act on a request and it protects the member who makes one from reprisal. Mr. Jordan’s assignments as a judge advocate included administrative law, and the questions that arise in practice are about the second half, what the evaluation produces and who may act on it.
The Brandon Act creates a defined pathway for a service member to request a mental health evaluation and obligates the recipient of that request to act on it.
The request is made to a commanding officer or to a supervisor in a grade above E-5, which means E-6 or higher. It does not bypass the chain of command; it changes what the chain of command is required to do when the request is made. The recipient must refer the service member for evaluation as soon as practicable, and the referral is to be handled in a manner that protects the member’s confidentiality.
That distinction matters, and earlier descriptions of the law, including an earlier version of this page, overstated it. The Act does not create an anonymous channel and it is not structured like the restricted reporting option available to victims of sexual assault. It creates an obligation on the recipient and confidentiality protections around the referral process.
The purpose is to remove the fear of career consequences from the decision to ask for help.
Implementation
The bill was introduced in Congress in June 2021 and signed into law in December of that year. Implementation across the services took additional time. Requirements included establishing referral procedures, addressing how records are created and maintained, and conducting awareness training.
If you are considering using this process, ask your servicing legal office or a defense attorney what the current implementing guidance is for your branch, because the procedures have been issued and updated at different times across the services.
Where the Legal Questions Arise
This is where a statute written to help can also create exposure. A referral produces an evaluation, an evaluation produces a record, and a record can be used in a separation action or a security clearance review even where the referral itself was protected from reprisal. Mr. Jordan represents service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force, and a service member being referred is better served understanding what the resulting file can and cannot be used for before the evaluation happens rather than after.
The Brandon Act addresses referral. It does not resolve every question that follows.
A service member who seeks a mental health evaluation may still face questions about fitness for duty, security clearance eligibility, or continued service. Those are separate processes with their own standards. What the statute prohibits is narrower than a general shield. 10 U.S.C. § 1090b bars referring a member for a mental health evaluation as a reprisal for a protected communication, and Department policy prohibits retaliation against a member for seeking mental health care. That is a prohibition on retaliation. It does not prevent a lawful fitness for duty finding, a security clearance review, or an administrative determination that follows from what an evaluation actually shows. Those are decided under their own authorities, and a member should not read the Act as insulating them from that.
If you have sought help and are now facing an administrative separation, a security clearance review, or disciplinary action that you believe is connected to it, that is a distinct legal problem and it has defenses.
Get the Help You Need
Crisis support: call or text 988, then press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line. Text 838255. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net. These lines serve active duty, Guard, Reserve, veterans, and family members.
Legal support: if you are facing disciplinary action, an administrative separation or mental health related discharge, or retaliation connected to seeking care, contact Joseph L. Jordan, Attorney at Law. Mr. Jordan is a former Army JAG officer representing service members in all branches worldwide.
Call (888) 643-6254.