Citation Nr: 21065845 Decision Date: 10/27/21 Archive Date: 10/27/21 DOCKET NO. 17-09 198 DATE: October 27, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from May 1999 to December 2013. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) remanded this issue to the VA Regional Office (RO) in October 2020; the claims file has been returned to the Board for adjudication. Entitlement to a TDIU is remanded. As a preliminary matter, the Veteran is service-connected, in pertinent part, for PTSD, rated as 70 percent disabling, and his combined rating was 90 percent, during the entire appeal, since December 29, 2013, until February 12, 2021, when his combined rating was increased to 100 percent. He thus meets the percentage requirements for a TDIU during the entire appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 (a). The Board, in its October 2020 remand, discussed that the Veteran asserted entitlement to a TDIU, in his May 2016 VA 21-8940, Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, on this basis that his arthritis and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevented him from securing or following any substantially gainful employment. In his May 2016 statement, he specifically contended that he could not deal with people and crowds including customers, experienced anger and verbal issues, forgot things all the time, and isolated; he reported that his anxiety came from working and that he was institutionalized at a mental ward for eight days in May 2015 due to suicidal ideations. In his February 2017 Substantive Appeal, the Veteran, via his spouse, reported that he was disciplined and sent home from work due to his PTSD and had to change from working the day shift to the night shift so not to deal with customers. The Board, in its October 2020 remand, also discussed, in pertinent part, that there were outstanding relevant private treatment records, specifically, those from Spring Mountain Treatment Center, dated from May 205 to June 2015. Also, the Board discussed that a VA Form 21-4192, Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability, has not been submitted for the Veteran's employer, Smart and Final, where the Veteran reported, in his May 2016 VA 21-8940, Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, working from December 2015, including on part-time basis. The Board directed the RO to attempt to obtain the outstanding relevant private treatment records and seek a VA Form 21-4192, Request for Employment Information, for his latest employer. On two occasions, dated in November 2020 and December 2020, the RO requested that the Veteran submit a VA Form 21-4142, Authorization and Consent to Release Information to the VA, for all non-VA medical providers seen for his service-connected disabilities, to include records from Spring Mountain Treatment Center, dated since 2014, and to submit a VA Form 21-4192, Request for Employment Information, for his latest employer. To date, the Veteran has not responded. Regardless of any clinical or lay evidence of record in support of his claim of entitlement to a TDIU, the Veteran's employment history during the course of the appeal is unclear; the Board is unable to adjudicate the issue based on the incomplete employment information. As recently as March 2021, during a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) related to his service-connected PTSD, the Veteran reported that he was currently employed at a Veteran-owned company where he was given accommodations and he was doing well. On remand, the RO should inform the Veteran that his complete employment history during the course of the appeal is required in order to adjudicate his claim of entitlement to a TDIU; the RO should request that he submit an updated VA 21-8940, Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability and a VA Form(s) 21-4192, Request for Employment Information, for his latest employer(s), as well as statements and/or evidence reflecting any assertions that his employment during the appeal was/is part-time or marginal. As the Board remands the issue again to the RO for additional development, on remand, the RO should again attempt to obtain the outstanding relevant private treatment records. The Veteran's most recent VA treatment records available for Board review are dated in November 2020; on remand, the RO should obtain and associate with the claims file his updated VA treatment records. The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Obtain the Veteran's VA treatment records for the period from November 2020 to the present. 2. Inform the Veteran that his private treatment records from Spring Mountain Treatment Center, dated since 2014, are outstanding and appear relevant to his claim on appeal; request that he complete and return a VA Form 21-4142, Authorization and Consent to Release Information to the VA in favor of Spring Mountain Treatment Center. Make two requests for any authorized records, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 3. Inform the Veteran that his complete employment history during the course of the appeal is required in order to adjudicate his claim of entitlement to a TDIU; request that he submit an updated VA 21-8940, Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability and a VA Form(s) 21-4192, Request for Employment Information, for his latest employer(s), as well as statements and/or evidence reflecting any assertions that his employment during the appeal was/is part-time or marginal. P.M. DILORENZO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Department of Veterans Affairs 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.