Citation Nr: 21077611 Decision Date: 12/30/21 Archive Date: 12/30/21 DOCKET NO. 19-12 268 DATE: December 30, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence supports a finding that the Veteran's service-connected PTSD is of such nature and severity as to prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for a TDIU have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.340, 3.341, 4.3, 4.15, 4.16. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1959 to October 1962. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In November 2021, the Veteran testified at a Virtual Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the Veteran's electronic claims file. 1. Entitlement to a TDIU due to service-connected PTSD The Board observes that the Veteran last worked in 2015. He indicates that his service-connected PTSD impacts his ability to engage in substantially gainful employment. A Veteran will be entitled to a TDIU upon establishing that he is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation due solely to impairment resulting from his service-connected disability. See 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.15, 4.16. The Veteran's only service-connected disability is PTSD currently rated as 70 percent. He meets the schedular criteria for eligibility to be considered for TDIU under the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). In a June 2019 private psychological evaluation report, the examiner indicated that the Veteran's PTSD has been impacting his social and occupational functioning since service separation. In an April 2020 private psychological disability evaluation report, the examiner opined that based on the Veteran's history, the current examination, and a review of historical records, his PTSD has caused his functioning to be impaired for an indefinite period by anxiety, unstable mood swings, and a potential to decompensate when placed under even moderate stress. The provider indicated that the Veteran's psychological symptoms and condition has presented a moderately to markedly negative effect on his ability to perform full-time independent work in a competitive work setting since January 16, 2015. After careful review of the record, the Board finds the Veteran experiences functional limitations due to service-connected PTSD, that precludes substantially gainful employment. To the extent that the record suggests that the Veteran could perform the physical requirements of sedentary type employment, the Board finds that such employment in this case would be no more than marginal in view of the Veteran's work experience and PTSD symptomatology. See June 2018 VA Form 21-8940. Therefore, affording the Veteran all benefit-of-the-doubt, the Board finds that he is unable to perform the physical acts required for substantially gainful employment due to his service-connected PTSD. Accordingly, TDIU is therefore warranted. See also Geib v. Shinseki, 733 F.3d 1350, 1354 (Fed. Cir. 2013) (providing that the ultimate question of whether a Veteran is capable of substantially gainful employment is not a medical question, but rather a determination that must be made by an adjudicator). Finally, the Board will not assign an effective date for the award of TDIU and will allow the RO to do so in the first instance. Urban v. Principi, 18 Vet. App. 143, 145 (2004) (per curium order). H.M. WALKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. McPhaull, 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.