Citation Nr: 21027439
Decision Date: 05/05/21	Archive Date: 05/05/21

DOCKET NO. 14-31 177
DATE: May 5, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to individual unemployability prior to January 14, 2021, is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

1. In a September 2020 rating decision, the RO granted service connection for left foot, low back, and neck disabilities.

2. The Veteran has not perfected an appeal for the claim for entitlement to individual unemployability prior to January 14, 2021. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The appeal for entitlement to individual unemployability prior to January 14, 2021, is dismissed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.103, 20.104, 20.200, 20.202.

 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from December 1984 to December 1987. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a March 2014 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

In April 2019, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a videoconference hearing. A transcript is of record. The Board remanded the appeal in October 2019.

Entitlement to individual unemployability prior to January 14, 2021, is dismissed. 

One of the threshold issues that the Board must address is the determination of appellate jurisdiction. 38 C.F.R. § 20.103. Generally, the Board's jurisdiction is grounded in an appeal having been filed on an issue, or issues, in controversy. 38 U.S.C. §§ 7104, 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.104. If the Board does not have jurisdiction, it may dismiss that case or issue. 38 C.F.R. § 20.104 (c).

In October 2019, the Board remanded the matter of entitlement to service connection for left foot, low back, and neck disabilities. In a September 2020 rating decision, the RO granted service connection for lumbar annular fissure with disc protrusion; paracentral disc protrusion with annular fissure, cervical spine C6-C7; and left foot pes planus. The September 2020 rating decision represents a full grant of benefits that were sought on appeal. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156, 1159 (Fed. Cir. 1997). 

A notice of disagreement (NOD) was not received pertaining to the initial ratings or effective dates that were assigned in the September 2020 rating decision. Nevertheless, the RO issued a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) on the issue of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).  The SSOC appears to have been issued in error. 

Given the grant of service connection for left foot, low back, and neck disabilities and the fact that the Veteran has not perfected an appeal as to the effective dates or initial ratings assigned, there is no longer a case or controversy to resolve. Indeed, the Veteran has neither perfected an appeal for entitlement to a TDIU nor was a claim for TDIU part of a prior increased rating appeal before the Board. As there remains no further case or controversy in appellate status, the appeal must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. §§ 7104, 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.200, 20.202.

 

 

D. JOHNSON

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M.Aoughsten, 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.