Citation Nr: 21031762
Decision Date: 05/24/21	Archive Date: 05/24/21

DOCKET NO. 10-36 901
DATE: May 24, 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 in the United States Navy from June 1984 to April 1994. 

In June 2013 the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is of record.

In April 2014, July 2018, May 2020 and December 2020, the Board remanded the claim on appeal for further development and adjudication.

The Board finds a remand is required to afford the Veteran another opportunity to submit a completed VA Form 21-8940 (Veteran's Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability). To date, the record does not reflect the Veteran has submitted a VA Form 21-8940 or comparable statement containing the information requested by this Form.

In this regard, the Board notes that the Veteran was initially sent such form in December 2014. However, while such correspondence was not returned as undeliverable, his representative informed VA that same month that the Veteran no longer resided at the address used. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction did not attempt to resend the letter until two years later, in March 2016, which was not returned by the Veteran; he has not been s

In pertinent part, a VA Form 21-8940 asks a claimant which service-connected disability or disabilities prevent him or her from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation, and the treatment he or she has received for the disability(ies). The claimant is further asked to supply information about his or her employment, including dates when his or her disability(ies) affected full-time employment, the date the veteran last worked full-time, and the date the veteran became too disabled to work. The VA Form 21-8940 also requests information regarding the veteran's employment, educational, and training history, to include all employers for the last five years, the hours worked per week, the time lost from illness, the circumstances under which the veteran left his or her last job, and whether the veteran has attempted to obtain employment since he or she became too disabled to work. 

As the Veteran may not have received the initial VA Form 21-8940, and because it has been over five years since he was provided with such a form, the Board finds that he should be provided with another opportunity to submit such form. The Veteran should note that, as such information can be critical to resolution of this case, his failure to provide it could constitute abandonment of the TDIU claim. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.158; see also Jernigan v. Shinseki, 25 Vet. App. 220, 229-30 (2012).

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Request the Veteran to provide VA with a completed VA Form 21-8940, (Veteran's Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability) with a 

 

detailed educational and employment history.

 

 

L. M. BARNARD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A.Z., 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.