Citation Nr: 18158765 Decision Date: 12/18/18 Archive Date: 12/17/18 DOCKET NO. 16-57 059 DATE: December 18, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is granted. FINDING OF FACT 1. For the period on appeal, the Veteran’s combined rating has been at least 70 percent with a single disability, or multiple combinable disabilities, rated at least 40 percent. 2. The Veteran is unable to obtain and maintain substantially gainful employment due to service-connected disabilities. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for a TDIU have been met for the entire period on appeal. 38 U.S.C. § 1155 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16 (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service in the United States Marine Corps from June 1979 to June 1981. This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Louis, MO. Entitlement to a TDIU The Veteran has asserted that he is unable to obtain and maintain employment as a result of his service-connected disabilities. Specifically, the Veteran has reported that his multiple service-connected orthopedic disability cause significant impairment in his ability to stand, sit, or walk for prolonged periods without discomfort. For the entire period on appeal, the Veteran’s combined rating has been at least 70 percent with a disability, or disabilities combinable, to at least a 40 percent rating. As such, the Veteran has met the schedule criteria assignment of a TDIU. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 (a). While there are some discrepancies in the record as to when the Veteran last worked, the record does tend to indicate that he has not worked for at least the entire period on appeal. The record shows that the Veteran last worked as a contractor for his father’s painting company and that before that, he had worked as a truck driver. He reported that he became unable to work as a result of his service-connected knee disabilities. The Veteran has a high school education and took a pipefitting course in June 2010. In a January 2015 letter from his VA Medical Center primary care provider, it was noted that the Veteran experienced pain and swelling in his right leg that was worsened by standing or walking and was only relived by elevation of his leg. It was also noted that further improvement in the Veteran’s right knee disability symptoms was not anticipated. The Veteran’s VA Medical Center primary care provider also noted that the Veteran had advanced arthritis in his left knee which was treated with steroid injections and that he may well require left knee replacement in the future. It was the opinion of the Veteran’s VA Medical Center primary care provider that the Veteran’s overall disability picture was not going to improve to such an extent as to allow him to hold gainful employment. A June 2015 VA examiner noted that the Veteran’s lower extremity disabilities impacted the Veteran’s ability to work in that he was unable to walk for very long or walk very fast. The examiner noted that the Veteran experience cramping pain in his right calf with any excessive movement of the leg and that the pain was very distracting from mental tasks. In light of the Veteran's occupational background and the functional limitations described above, the Board finds that he is unable to obtain and maintain substantially gainful employment in accordance with his industrial background and educational level. Accordingly, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that entitlement to a TDIU is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b) (2012); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). Kristin Haddock Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Christina Quant, Law Clerk