Citation Nr: 20038029
Decision Date: 06/03/20	Archive Date: 06/03/20

DOCKET NO. 15-22 853
DATE: June 3, 2020

ORDER

The appeal for entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

An April 2020 rating decision granted service connection for a right knee disability, and there remains no justiciable case or controversy as to the issue.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for dismissal of the claim for entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability have been met.  38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.205.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from April 1992 to August 1995.  

The Board remanded the appeal in August 2018 for additional development, which was completed. 

In this case, the Veteran’s claim of service connection for a right knee disability was granted in a rating decision issued by the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) in April 2020.  As a general matter, the grant of a claim of service connection constitutes an award of full benefits sought on an appeal of the denial of a service connection claim.  Seri v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 441, 447 (2007).  See also Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156  (Fed. Cir. 1997) (where an appealed claim for service connection is granted during the pendency of the appeal, a second Notice of Disagreement must thereafter be timely filed to initiate appellate review of “downstream” issues such as the compensation level assigned for the disability or the effective date of service connection).

The Board may dismiss any appeal which fails to allege specific error of fact or law in the determination being appealed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.202.  Here, as a result of the AOJ’s action, there no longer remains a case or controversy with respect to this claim.  Therefore, the Board lacks jurisdiction over this issue because it has been granted and rendered moot on appeal.  38 U.S.C. §§ 7104, 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 19.7, 20.101, 20.200, 20.202.  Therefore, dismissal of this claim is warranted.

 

 

John J. Crowley

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Azizi, T.

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.