Citation Nr: 21006521 Decision Date: 02/04/21 Archive Date: 02/04/21 DOCKET NO. 18-36 796 DATE: February 4, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is denied. FINDING OF FACT The rating for the Veteran’s only service-connected disability, generalized anxiety disorder, does not meet the schedular criteria for TDIU, and referral for extraschedular consideration is not warranted as the most probative evidence is against a finding that the disorder precludes substantially gainful employment. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to TDIU have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1155, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.321, 4.15, 4.16, 4.19. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from February 1969 to February 1971 and October 2001 to March 2002. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Board remanded this case in October 2018; the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, also remanded, has since been granted. VA will grant a total disability rating for compensation purposes based on unemployability when the evidence shows that the Veteran is precluded, by reason of his service-connected disabilities, from securing and following substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16. TDIU may be assigned where the schedular rating is less than total, when it is found that the disabled person is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of a single service-connected disability ratable at 60 percent or more, or as a result of two or more disabilities, provided at least one disability is ratable at 40 percent or more, and there is sufficient additional service-connected disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16(a). The central inquiry is, “whether the veteran's service-connected disabilities alone are of sufficient severity to produce unemployability.” Hatlestad v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 524, 529 (1993). Consideration may be given to the Veteran’s education, special training, and previous work experience, but not to his age or to the impairment caused by nonservice-connected disabilities. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341, 4.16, 4.19; see also Van Hoose v. Brown, 4 Vet. App. 361, 363 (1993). The Veteran has one service-connected disability, generalized anxiety disorder, that is rated at 30 percent and has been in effect since November 2017. Accordingly, because the Veteran does not have a single service-connected disability rated at 60 percent or more, or a combined disability rating of 70 percent or more, he does not meet the percentage requirements for TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). The Board has next considered whether referral for consideration of TDIU on an extraschedular basis is warranted. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b). However, the competent evidence of record does not indicate that the Veteran is precluded from substantially gainful employment due solely to his service-connected disability. Of note, the Veteran’s October 2019 VA mental disorders examination notes that his anxiety symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication. The Veteran reported being retired and not having any conflicts during his post-military jobs. The Veteran further reported sleep disturbance, a depressed mood, and not being able to stay in lines or in traffic as his symptoms. In addition, he was not taking medication, not seeking treatment from a psychiatrist, and had no history of psychiatric hospitalizations. His appearance and grooming were noted as normal and adequate; his speech was noted as clear; his thought process was noted as coherent; and his judgment was adequate with no suicidal or homicidal ideation. The Board finds the weight of the evidence does not support the Veteran’s contention that his service-connected anxiety disorder is of such severity as to preclude his participation in any form of substantially gainful employment. Both the history reported by the Veteran upon examination and the symptoms noted by the examiner are not consistent with a degree of severity commensurate with being unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation due to anxiety disorder. Thus, the Board sees no basis for referral of the TDIU claim to the Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration. As the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, the claim must be denied. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Ariasaif, Associate 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.