Citation Nr: 18158232
Decision Date: 12/14/18	Archive Date: 12/14/18

DOCKET NO. 16-19 844
DATE:	December 14, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to a total rating for compensation based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities prevent him from finding and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to TDIU have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.321, 3.340, 3.341, 4.16.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
In January 2018, the Board issued a decision on the Veteran's claims for a restoration of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and an increased rating for PTSD.  Following that decision, the Veteran submitted a motion to the Board for reconsideration of that decision on the basis that a claim for TDIU was not considered as part of the claim for increased rating for PTSD.  This Supplemental Decision addresses entitlement to TDIU.
Entitlement to a total rating for compensation based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU)
Total disability ratings for compensation based on individual unemployability may be assigned when the combined schedular rating for the service-connected disabilities is less than 100 percent and when it is found that the service-connected disabilities are sufficient to produce unemployability without regard to advancing age, provided that, if there is only one such disability, that disability is rated 60 percent or more, or, if there are two or more disabilities, there is at least one disability rated at 40 percent or more and additional disabilities to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16(a). 
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, alone, must be sufficiently severe to produce unemployability.  Hatlestad v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 524 (1993).  In determining whether unemployability exists, consideration may be given to the Veteran's level of education, special training, and previous work experience, but not to age or to any impairment caused by nonservice-connected disabilities.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341, 4.16, 4.19.
The Board finds that the Veteran meets the schedular criteria for consideration of the assignment of TDIU.  The Veteran's combined service-connected rating for the service-connected disabilities is 90 percent, with PTSD rated 70 percent, ischemic heart disease rated 60 percent, and residuals of prostate cancer rated 10 percent.
The Board finds that the service-connected disabilities prevent the Veteran from securing or following substantially gainful employment.  In a September 2014 private assessment, a private examiner stated that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities would make him unable to handle the stress of a workplace environment.  In an August 2016 private disability review, a private examiner stated that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities precluded him from employment at a substantially gainful level.  
Accordingly, the Board finds that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevent him from finding and maintaining substantially gainful employment.  Therefore, TDIU is granted.  Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990); 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102.
 
Harvey P. Roberts
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T.M. Gillett, Counsel