Citation Nr: 20034037 Decision Date: 05/15/20 Archive Date: 05/15/20 DOCKET NO. 19-22 625 DATE: May 15, 2020 ORDER A total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) renders him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for a TDIU are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from August 2003 to September 2005. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2018 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran asserts that his service-connected PTSD prevents him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment. See May 2018 VA Form 21-8940. The Board agrees. A total disability rating may be assigned, where the schedular rating is less than total, when it is found that the disabled person is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as the result of service-connected disabilities. See 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16. Consideration may be given to a veteran’s level of education, special training, and previous work experience in arriving at a conclusion, but not to his age or the impairment caused by any nonservice-connected disabilities. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341, 4.16, 4.19. To qualify for a total rating for compensation purposes, the evidence must show that the veteran is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of his service-connected disabilities and there is one disability ratable at 60 percent or more, or, if more than one disability, at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more and a combined disability rating of 70 percent. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16. Disabilities that are not service-connected cannot serve as a basis for a total disability rating. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341, 4.19. Here, the Veteran’s PTSD is rated at 70 percent disabling from September 16, 2017, which qualifies him for a schedular TDIU from that date. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). On his May 2018 VA Form 21-8940, Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, the Veteran reported that he last worked full-time in March 2016 as a police officer. His educational background includes four years of college and mechanic training from June 2016 to June 2017. The Veteran asserts he was unable to continue with gainful employment based on his PTSD and anger-related issues, and the October 2019 VA examiner notes the Veteran’s report that he left his job due to psychiatric symptoms (depression). Notably, in 2016, the Veteran tried to secure a part-time position as a helper at a mechanic shop, but was fired after one month when he got into a physical altercation. The employer indicated the Veteran had “PTSD and anger issues and had difficulty maintaining social relationships at work, memory loss, and [was] involved in a physical altercation. Veteran was terminated.” See July 2018 VA Form 21-4192. The employer noted that the Veteran was not paid because he refused to pick up his check. Id. Moreover, the March 2018 and October 2019 VA examiners found the Veteran evidenced occupational and social impairment in most areas, including work, due to symptoms such as difficulty or inability in establishing and maintaining effective work relationships, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances (including in a work setting), persistent delusions or hallucinations, suicidal ideation, neglect of hygiene, intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living, and difficulty maintaining concentration and focus on work over a period of time. There is no competent evidence to the contrary (In this regard, the Board finds the June 2018 VA examination report, in which the examiner determined that the Veteran did not have any psychiatric disorder and was only experiencing sleep impairment, to be of no probative value.) The Veteran’s treatment records also reflect that he engages in isolative behavior. See, e.g., June 2018, July 2018 and February 2020 VA treatment records. Given the overall severity of the Veteran’s psychiatric symptoms, the Veteran’s competent and credible lay statements, and resolving reasonable doubt in his favor, the Board finds that a TDIU due solely to PTSD is warranted. S. BUSH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. J. Rogers, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.