Citation Nr: 18157315
Decision Date: 12/13/18	Archive Date: 12/12/18

DOCKET NO. 15-12 249A
DATE:	December 13, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities have produced total occupational impairment.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for TDIU have been met.  38 U.S.C. § 1155 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 4.16 (2018).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
Entitlement to TDIU.
VA will grant TDIU when the evidence shows that a veteran is precluded, by reason of service-connected disability, from obtaining and maintaining any form of gainful employment consistent with his or her education and occupational experience.  See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16.
Under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16, if there is only one such disability, it must be rated at least 60 percent disabling to qualify for benefits based on individual unemployability.  If there are two or more such disabilities, to qualify for individual unemployability, there must be at least 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. § 4.16(a).
Substantially gainful employment is defined as work which is more than marginal and which permits the individual to earn a living wage. Moore v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 356 (1991).  In evaluating a veteran’s employability, consideration may be given to his or her level of education, special training, and previous work experience in arriving at a conclusion, but not to age or impairment caused by nonservice-connected disabilities.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341, 4.16, 4.19. 
The ultimate question of whether a veteran is capable of substantial gainful employment is not a medical one; that determination is for the adjudicator.  See Geib v. Shinseki, 733 F.3d 1350, 1354 (Fed. Cir. 2013); Floore v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 376, 381 (2013).  Indeed, the focus of the examiner is not on whether a Veteran is unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities, but the functional impairment caused solely by his service-connected disabilities.
The Veteran is service connected for PTSD rated 70 percent disabling; fibromyalgia rated 40 percent disabling; and right rhomboid muscle strain rated 20 percent disabling.  His combined rating is 90 percent.  The Veteran meets the schedular TDIU and criteria for eligibility under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a).
The Veteran contends that he has been unable to obtain and maintain substantially gainful employment due to his service-connected disabilities.  He is a high school graduate with a general education degree and was employed as a metal worker for 12 years until December 2005.  See September 2012 VA 21-8940.  He claims that he stopped working due to disability.
Granting him the benefit of the doubt, the Board finds that the Veteran is entitled to TDIU.  The October 2015 VA PTSD examination notes a deficiency in work due to PTSD and symptoms of mild memory loss, disturbances of motivation and mood, difficulty establishing and maintaining work relationships, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, and impaired impulse control.  The December 2014 VA back examination indicates that the Veteran’s rhomboid muscle strain prevents overhead lifting and pushing or pulling with the right arm.  His fibromyalgia causes pain, weakness, fatigue, and sleep disturbances.  See February 2015 VA Examination.  These significant physical and mental limitations would likely preclude the Veteran from any form of substantially gainful employment consistent with his limited educational attainment and history of manual employment.  Accordingly, TDIU is warranted.
 
MICHAEL A. HERMAN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Alhinnawi, Associate Counsel