Citation Nr: 20046436 Decision Date: 07/10/20 Archive Date: 07/10/20 DOCKET NO. 20-21 270 DATE: July 10, 2020 ORDER The claim of entitlement to an effective date earlier than April 30, 2015, for the award of a 40 percent evaluation for right eye defective vision is dismissed. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. In a November 2016 Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) decision, the Board denied entitlement to a rating higher than 30 percent for right eye vision impairment prior to April 30, 2015,, and granted a rating of 40 percent for right eye vision impairment effective April 30, 2015. 2. The November 2016 Board decision which denied a rating higher than 30 percent prior to April 30, 2015 for right eye vision impairment is final, and any subsequent adjudication of this issue is constrained by the principles of finality and res judicata. CONCLUSION OF LAW Because the November 2016 Board decision is final, the Board now does not have jurisdiction to consider a claim of entitlement to an effective date earlier than April 30, 2015, for the 40 percent evaluation assigned for right eye defective vision. 38 U.S.C. §§ 7104, 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.1100, 20.1104. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from March 1953 to October 1957. The Veteran was initially granted service connection for an eye condition in a March 1958 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. He was assigned an evaluation of 30 percent, effective November 1, 1957, the day after his separation from service. In March 2008 and July 2010, the Veteran requested an increased rating for his vision disability, and he eventually appealed this claim to the Board in July 2012. In a November 2016 Board decision, the Board found that prior to April 30, 2015, the Veteran’s right eye was manifested by no more than light perception in the right eye and 20/40 vision in the left eye. It found that a rating higher than 30 percent was not warranted prior to April 30, 2015. The Board also decided that since April 30, 2015, the Veteran’s right eye was manifested by no more than light perception in the right eye and 20/50 in the left eye, and a rating of 40 percent, but no higher, was warranted. The Veteran did not appeal the Board decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and thus, the November 2016 Board decision is final. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100. While a December 2016 rating decision was issued by the Appeals Management Center which increased the Veteran’s right eye vision impairment rating to 40 percent, effective April 30, 2015, this rating decision was issued solely to effectuate the decision made by the Board in November 2016. The issue of whether an earlier effective date for that increased rating could be assigned had already been decided in the November 2016 Board decision, and the effective date listed in the December 2016 could not be appealed through a Notice of Disagreement. See Rudd v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 296, 299-300 (2006) (Once a decision assigning an effective date has become final, a claimant may not properly file, and VA has no authority to adjudicate, a freestanding earlier-effective-date claim in an attempt to overcome the finality of an unappealed Board decision.); Donovan v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 404, 409 (1997) (A Regional Office must not be placed in the anomalous position of reviewing the decision of the Board, which is a superior tribunal.). To again review the effective date assigned in the November 2016 Board decision would violate the rule of finality, and the Board accordingly has no jurisdiction to review the claim. The Board is barred from considering the issue under the principles of finality and res judicata, and there is no other specific error of fact or law that could be part of the current appeal and within the jurisdiction of the Board. Accordingly, the claim of entitlement to an effective date earlier than April 30, 2015 for the 40 percent evaluation assigned for right eye defective vision is dismissed. DELYVONNE M. WHITEHEAD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Mary E. Rude, 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.