Chen-Li Sung v. Dennis Doyle

MEMORANDUM

Chen-Li Sung appeals from the district court’s entry of summary judgment in the defendants’ favor. We conclude that the decision of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) not to change Sung’s military records was supported by substantial evidence and was neither arbitrary nor capricious. See Burns v. Marsh, 820 F.2d 1108, 1110 (9th Cir. 1987). (Notwithstanding Sung’s resignation from the Army, we conclude that his appeal is not moot because he seeks a correction of his military records to show that he had been reinstated into the Army’s general surgery residency program prior to his resignation.)

1. Sung has not raised a triable issue as to whether the Army’s decision to dismiss him from the residency program relied on impermissible military readiness factors, as opposed to academic ones. The ABCMR determined that Sung’s dismissal was based on “his regression as evidenced by his failure to complete assignments and to convincingly show he was competent to practice independently, without supervi sion as a surgeon.” That issue had dominated Sung’s dismissal hearing, at which the program director and Sung’s probation ombudsman testified that Sung…