Citation Nr: 18147952 Decision Date: 11/07/18 Archive Date: 11/06/18 DOCKET NO. 16-43 847 DATE: November 7, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to a TDIU have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16 (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from June 1970 to April 1974. For his meritorious service, the Veteran was awarded (among other decorations) the Combat Action Ribbon. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeal (Board) on appeal from an March 2016 rating decision issued by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Entitlement total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU). VA will grant a TDIU when the evidence shows that the veteran is precluded, by reason of service-connected disabilities, from obtaining and maintaining any form of substantially gainful employment consistent with his or her education and occupational experience. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16. The central inquiry in a TDIU claim is whether the veteran’s service-connected disabilities alone are of sufficient severity to produce unemployability. Hatlestad v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 524, 529 (1993). A total disability rating for compensation may be assigned when the veteran receives less than a total disability rating (less than 100 percent) and is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation because of service-connected disabilities. Regulations provide that if a veteran is service-connected for one disability, it must be rated as 60 percent disabling or more. In determining whether unemployability exists, consideration may be given to the veteran’s level of education, special training, and previous work experience, but it may not be given to his or her age or to any impairment caused by nonservice-connected disabilities. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341, 4.16, 4.19. As such, the Board will consider whether a particular job is realistically within the physical and mental capabilities of the veteran. The Veteran is service-connected for (1) bilateral hearing loss, rated variably at 70 or 80 percent during the appeal period, and (2) tinnitus, rated at 10 percent. The combined evaluation for these disabilities is 70 and 80 percent. As such, the Veteran meets the preliminary schedular criteria for consideration for entitlement to a TDIU. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.16. Thus, the Veteran may be awarded a TDIU if evidence shows that his service-connected disabilities preclude substantial and gainful employment. The Board finds that the competent evidence of record does support such a conclusion. The Veteran’s VA Form 21-8940 (Veteran’s Application for Increased Compensation based on Unemployability) provided that the Veteran became too disabled to work in July 2015. The Veteran last worked as a sole proprietor of HVAC business and a teacher. The Veteran stated that he had to leave his teaching job and shut down his business due to the inability to hear and communicate. The Veteran’s highest level of education completed is two years of college. The September 2015 and October 2016 VA examiners found that the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss impacted the conditions of his daily life and his ability to work due to decreased hearing in both ears. The Veteran provided a statement, in which he reported that his hearing loss hindered his ability to work as an instructor. Moreover, the Veteran stated he had to utilize a helper to assist him with tasks that requires the use of hearing, such as talking to customers, and equipment issues diagnosis. The Veteran reported the inability to hear sounds that the equipment rendered his ability to function as a HVAC technician. The Veteran’s former employee, B.D., reported that he served as the Veteran’s helper in the HVAC business. B.D. described being required to tell the Veteran the sounds the equipment would make. He also stated that the Veteran could not perform Freon and natural gas leaks due to the inability to hear the alarms. In light of the above, the Board finds that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities render him unable to secure and maintain substantial and gainful employment. The Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss prevents him from communicating effectively, which hinders his ability to secure and maintain gainful employment. The Veteran is unable to perform his trade as a HVAC technician because the ability to hear is vital to the ability to diagnosis the issues with a piece of equipment. Therefore, the Board finds the evidence is at least in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities render him unable to secure and maintain substantial and gainful employment and the Board resolves the benefit of the doubt in favor of the Veteran in this case. Therefore, the Board finds the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities render the Veteran unable to secure and follow substantial and gainful employment. The Veteran had formerly been granted a TDIU from August 2015 to April 2016; the RO discontinued this rating after it determined that the Veteran remained employed or continued to receive payment from his business. The Veteran has since stated that he has closed his business, and there is no evidence that the Veteran has sought or found employment since that date. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds the evidence has shown that the Veteran would be unable to obtain and maintain employment based on his service-connected disabilities. The appeal is granted. Evan Deichert Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. R. Higgins, Associate Counsel