Citation Nr: 21023861 Decision Date: 04/21/21 Archive Date: 04/21/21 DOCKET NO. 17-45 984 DATE: April 21, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from February 1967 to April 1970. In February 2021, he testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the proceeding is in the record. He contends that he is unemployable as a result of his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and right-hand burn with carpal tunnel syndrome. He testified that he had trouble working around groups, and his PTSD would affect his concentration at work. He also stated that he had trouble manipulating and gripping things with his right hand. The Veteran has provided incomplete and inconsistent employment information in support of his claim. His VA Form 21-8940 lists only one job during a six-year period between 1999 and 2005. In response to a request for employment information, this same employer listed the Veteran’s employment dates as February 2000 to November 2007. An October 2006 VA treatment record also noted that the Veteran was working full-time and had an employment history that included “about 10 different jobs since discharge from service.” On remand, the Veteran must be contacted and asked to provide a complete educational and employment history. Remand is also needed for a VA examination to obtain objective findings on the full extent of the Veteran’s functional impairments due to his service-connected disabilities. His last VA examinations in connection with his TDIU claim date from May 2015 and October 2015. While the examination reports do note that the Veteran’s carpal tunnel syndrome and PTSD each impacted his ability to work, the examiners in both reports provide little independent assessment of the Veteran’s functional impairments with respect to his service-connected disabilities. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the Veteran and ask him to provide a complete accounting of his educational and employment history. Based on the information received, take all appropriate action for verification. 2. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records for the period from July 2018 to the present. 3. Then, schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician regarding the current severity of his service-connected PTSD with major depressive disorder, residuals of a full thickness burn to the right hand with carpal tunnel syndrome, and right-hand scars. The examiner should elicit from the Veteran his complete educational, vocational, and employment history and should note his complaints regarding the impact of his service-connected disabilities on employment. The examiner should identify all limitations or functional impairment caused solely by his service-connected disabilities. M. E. Larkin Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Jack S. Komperda, 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.