Citation Nr: 18140905 Decision Date: 10/09/18 Archive Date: 10/09/18 DOCKET NO. 16-14 982 DATE: ORDER Entitlement to a total disability evaluation based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence of record is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities prevent him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for a TDIU have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. § 4.16. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1964 to October 1986. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2014 rating decision. TDIU may be assigned where the schedular rating is less than total if it is found that the claimant is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of 1) a single service-connected disability ratable at 60 percent or more, or 2) as a result of two or more disabilities, provided at least one disability is ratable at 40 percent or more, and there is sufficient additional service-connected disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). A claimant need not show 100 percent unemployability in order to be entitled to TDIU. Roberson v. Principi, 251 F.3d 1378, 1385 (Fed. Cir. 2001). The criteria of 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 establish a flexible standard for TDIU that takes into account the claimant’s individual circumstances, to include his or her education and occupational experience. Id. The Board cannot deny TDIU without producing evidence, as distinguished from mere conjecture, showing the claimant can perform work that would produce sufficient income to be other than marginal. Friscia v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 294, 297 (1994). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 4.3. The Veteran has several service-connected disabilities with compensable ratings that combine for a total rating of 70 percent, effective April 8, 2011. Among these conditions, the Veteran’s coronary artery disease, rated as 30 percent disabling, and hypertension, rated as 10 percent disabling, affect a single body system, the cardiovascular system. Therefore, the Veteran’s service-connected coronary artery disease and hypertension are considered one disability rated at 40 percent for the limited purpose of establishing the requirements for schedular TDIU. Based on this, he satisfies the threshold schedular requirement for an award of TDIU benefits under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). See Gary v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 229, 231 (1994). What remains to be determined is whether the functional impairment associated with his service-connected disabilities is of such nature and severity as to preclude substantially gainful employment. In this instance, the Board finds the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities have prevented him from engaging in substantially gainful employment for which his education and occupational experience would otherwise qualify him. The record indicates the Veteran went on disability in 2008 and ultimately retired from a career as a truck driver in February 2011 as the result of the symptoms resulting from, and demands of treatment for, his service-connected coronary artery disease. For a brief period following this retirement, the Veteran worked as a part-time crossing guard. VA treatment records and an April 2016 VA examination report show the Veteran is unable to stand for long periods of time or walk more than 100 feet without experiencing disabling fatigue due to his heart conditions. His service-connected bilateral foot disabilities further contribute to these difficulties. Furthermore, a January 2011 VA examination found that symptoms of coronary artery disease functionally limited the Veteran to sedentary employment. Yet, there is no evidence of record that indicates the Veteran has education or experience that would lead to a sedentary position in another field that would produce sufficient income to be other than marginal. The Veteran has a high school education with no professional experience outside truck driving, the field his current disability has forced him to leave. The Veteran has also reported that treatment for his service-connected conditions has interfered with his ability to sustain even part-time work. Thus, the evidence is in at least relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities, primarily his heart conditions, have prevented him from engaging in substantially gainful employment for which his education and occupational experience would otherwise qualify him throughout the appeal period. Resolving any remaining reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds entitlement to TDIU, effective April 8, 2011, is warranted. M. HYLAND Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD D. Pitman, Associate Counsel