Citation Nr: 21065313 Decision Date: 10/25/21 Archive Date: 10/25/21 DOCKET NO. 16-19 162 DATE: October 25, 2021 ORDER A total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) from May 12, 2015 is granted. FINDING OF FACT From May 12, 2015, the Veteran met the schedular criteria for TDIU, and the Veteran's previously service-connected disabilities prevented the Veteran from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for TDIU from May 12, 2015 have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served honorably in the United States Marine Corps from August 1967 to January 1970. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2015 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This appeal is being adjudicated under the legacy appellate framework. The Veteran testified at a personal hearing before the Board in June 2019, and a transcript of the hearing is of record. This matter was previously before the Board, and, in March 2021, the Board remanded this matter for further development. Further development in substantial compliance with the Board's previous remand instructions has been completed. TDIU from May 12, 2015 is granted. At issue is whether the Veteran is entitled to TDIU. The weight of the evidence indicates that the Veteran is entitled to TDIU from May 12, 2015. This issue of was TDIU was raised by the record during the course of a previous appellate claim. Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009). The period on appeal from the previous appellate claim was from May 12, 2015 to present. See March 2021 Board Decision. TDIU is assigned for individuals who's previously service-connected disabilities prevent them from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment. TDIU also normally requires that the Veteran meet either of the two schedular criteria: a single disability that is at least 60 percent disabling; or a single disability that is at least 40 percent disabling and a combined disability rating of 70 percent. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). The Veteran meets the schedular rating criteria from May 12, 2015, because the Veteran has been assigned an individual disability rating that is at least 60 percent disabling throughout the period on appeal. See January 2021 Rating Decision Code Sheet. The Veteran meets the substantive criteria from May 12, 2015, because an April 2021 VA examination indicated that the Veteran had been unemployed since 2015 and that the Veteran's previously service-connected psychiatric disability caused severe impairment in the Veteran's ability to operate in an occupational environment. The Board is convinced that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran is incapable of securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment. Here, the weight of the probative evidence of record demonstrates that the Veteran is unable to secure and maintain substantially gainful employment. Therefore, the evidence in this case is evenly balanced enough so as to allow application of the benefit-of-the-doubt rule as required by law and VA regulations. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. As such, TDIU from May 12, 2015 is granted. The Board has also considered whether the Veteran is entitled to special monthly compensation for a total disability rating and a disability that is independently 60 percent disabling. 38 C.F.R. § 3.350. The Board finds that it is not, because the assignment of TDIU is based on the severity of the Veteran's previously service-connected disabilities, and, therefore, none of these disabilities either individually or in combination can be considered independent. DAVID L. WIGHT Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board David R. Seaton, 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.