Citation Nr: 21070487 Decision Date: 11/24/21 Archive Date: 11/24/21 DOCKET NO. 14-21 887 DATE: November 24, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) from November 16, 2009, to June 1, 2015, is dismissed as moot. FINDING OF FACT From November 16, 2009, to June 1, 2015, the Veteran's service connected disabilities were rated 100 percent, combined; he did not meet the criteria for special monthly compensation (SMC) during this period. CONCLUSION OF LAW For the period from November 16, 2009, to June 1, 2015, the issue of entitlement to a TDIU rating is moot. 38 U.S.C. §§ 7104, 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.14, 4.16. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The appellant is a Veteran who had active service from October 1973 to November 1979. This case is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision that denied entitlement to a TDIU rating. In June 2016, a hearing in the matter was held before the undersigned; a transcript is in the record. In December 2017, the mater was remanded for additional development. In October 2019, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) granted a TDIU rating effective June 1, 2015. In February 2020 and November 2020, the matter was again remanded for additional development regarding entitlement to a TDIU rating prior to June 1, 2015. An interim (September 2021) rating decision granted service connection for left and right knee disabilities; left and right hip disabilities; left and right shoulder disabilities; a right wrist disability; right thumb, long finger, index finger, ring finger, and little finger disabilities; a cervical spine disability, a lumbar spine disability, and left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, representing a complete grant of his appeal in regard to these claims. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997). The awards also had the effect of establishing a 100 percent combined schedular rating for the Veteran's service-connected disabilities throughout from August 10, 2009. TDIU In January 2010, the Veteran claimed he was entitled to a TDIU rating as of November 16, 2009, the day he last worked. An October 2019 rating decision granted a TDIU rating effective June 1, 2015. Pursuant to the September 2021 rating decision, he is now assigned a combined 100 percent schedular rating throughout the period for consideration. The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) has recognized that a 100 percent rating under the Schedule for Rating Disabilities means that a Veteran is totally disabled. Holland v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 443, 446 (1994), citing Swan v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 20, 22 (1990). Thus, if VA has found a veteran to be totally disabled as a result of a particular service-connected disability or combination of disabilities pursuant to the rating schedule, there is no need, and no authority, to otherwise rate that veteran totally disabled on any other basis. See Herlihy v. Principi, 15 Vet. App. 33, 35 (2001). However, a grant of a 100 percent disability does not always render the issue of a TDIU rating moot. VA's duty to maximize a claimant's benefits includes consideration of whether his disabilities establish entitlement to SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114. See Buie v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 242, 250 (2011); Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280, 294 (2008). Specifically, SMC may be warranted if the Veteran has a 100 percent disability rating for a single disability, and VA finds that a TDIU rating is warranted based solely on the disabilities other than the disability that is rated at 100 percent. See Bradley, 22 Vet. App. 280. Alternatively, SMC may be warranted where a TDIU rating is warranted for a single service-connected disability, and the Veteran has a disability or disabilities that are independently ratable as 60 percent or more and which do not form the basis for the TDIU rating. Here, the Veteran is now assigned a combined 100 percent rating effective August 10, 2009. He has not alleged, nor does the record suggest that he was unemployable due to a single service-connected disability. Under those circumstances, the matter of entitlement to a TDIU rating from November 16, 2009 to June 1, 2015, has been rendered moot by the award of a combined schedular 100 percent rating for throughout the period for consideration. Accordingly, the issue of entitlement to a TDIU rating from November 16, 2009, to June 1, 2015, is being dismissed as moot. GEORGE R. SENYK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board T. Berryman, 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.