Citation Nr: 18155912 Decision Date: 12/06/18 Archive Date: 12/06/18 DOCKET NO. 14-30 353 DATE: December 6, 2018 ORDER The claim for entitlement to a total disability rating due to individual unemployability resulting from service-connected disability (TDIU) is granted. REMANDED The claim for entitlement to an increased rating for PTSD, rated as 30 percent disabling prior to March 14, 2015 and 70 percent disabling thereafter, is remanded. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities preclude him from performing gainful employment for which his education and occupational experience otherwise qualify him. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an award of a TDIU are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION Insert date The Veteran served on active duty from June 1966 to April 1976. This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from July 2012 and December 2013 rating decisions issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at the RO in July 2017. A transcript of the hearing is of record. 1. Entitlement to TDIU. The Veteran contends that he is unemployable due to service-connected PTSD. VA will grant a TDIU when the evidence shows that the Veteran is precluded due to his service-connected disabilities from obtaining or maintaining “substantially gainful employment” consistent with his education and occupational experience. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16; VAOPGCPREC 75-91; 57 Fed. Reg. 2317 (1992). The Veteran meets the schedular criteria for an award of TDIU; he is service-connected for PTSD rated as 70 percent disabling and psoriasis with vitiligo rated as 60 percent disabling. He is also in receipt of a combined evaluation for compensation of 70 percent from April 23, 2010. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) (providing that the schedular criteria are met if there are two or more service-connected disabilities with one disability ratable at 40 percent or more and sufficient additional disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more); 38 C.F.R. § 4.25, Table I (Combined Ratings Table). After review of the evidence, the Board finds that the Veteran is unemployable due to service-connected disabilities. The record establishes that the Veteran last held substantially gainful employment in 2010 when he worked as a valet for a car dealership. The Veteran credibly testified that he has never held a job for an extended period and was terminated on multiple occasions due to conflicts with his supervisors and co-workers. The Veteran is in receipt of a General Educational Development (GED) diploma and received technical training in the late 1970s equivalent to one year of college. The medical evidence of record establishes that the Veteran is unemployable due to service-connected PTSD. A March 2015 VA psychiatric examiner found that the Veteran’s PTSD resulted in deficiencies in most areas, to include employment. The examiner noted that the Veteran has never held a job for longer than three to four years and could not get along with his supervisors or fellow employees. In August 2017, the Veteran underwent a private psychological examination and was found “incapable of performing full time competitive work” due to the severity of his PTSD and its accompanying symptoms. The Veteran was found to be withdrawn socially, manifested depression and mood shifts, and had great difficulty controlling his irritability and anger. His alcohol abuse was also associated with PTSD by both the private and VA mental health examiners. The Board therefore finds that the Veteran’s PTSD renders him unemployable for gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience and the claim for TDIU is granted. REASONS FOR REMAND The Board regrets delay in this case, but finds that a remand is necessary to fully develop the record with respect to the claim for entitlement to a higher rating for PTSD. The Veteran testified in July 2017 that he received regular VA treatment for PTSD at the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. The claims file does not currently contain any VA medical records dated after September 2015. In addition, the Board finds that a new VA examination is necessary to determine the severity of the service-connected PTSD. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records for the period from September 2015 to the present. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected PTSD. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria. The examiner must attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of symptoms, to include whether the Veteran endorses any of the criteria associated with a total schedular rating. To the extent possible, the examiner should identify any symptoms and social and occupational impairment due to the disability. M. H. HAWLEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Riley, Counsel