Citation Nr: 21040867
Decision Date: 07/07/21	Archive Date: 07/07/21

DOCKET NO. 18-06 300
DATE: July 7, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a total rating for compensation purposes based on individual unemployability due to service connected disabilities (TDIU) prior to May 15, 2015, is remanded.  

Entitlement to special monthly compensation at the housebound rate prior to July 18, 2014, and after January 1, 2015, is remanded.  

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active service from August 1990 to August 1994; from February 2003 to August 2003; and from June 2006 to September 2007.  The Veteran appeared at a March 2020 videoconference hearing before the undersigned Acting Veterans Law Judge.  The hearing transcript is of record.  

In December 2020, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction granted a TDIU, effective as of May 15, 2015.  

1. Entitlement to a TDIU prior to May 15, 2015, is remanded.  

In December 2020, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction granted a TDIU, effective as of May 15, 2015, the day following the Veteran's alleged last day of employment with the United States Postal Service (USPS). 

In reviewing the record, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) observes that the record is in apparent conflict as to when the Veteran ceased his employment with the USPS.  In his August 2014 Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, VA Form 21-8940, the Veteran indicated that he stopped working for the USPS in May 2014.  In his July 2015 Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, VA Form 21-8940, the Veteran indicated that he had stopped working for the USPS on May 1, 2014.  Social Security Administration (SSA) records dated in March 2015 state that the Veteran stopped working for the USPS on May 4, 2014.  The USPS completed two separate Requests for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits, VA Form 21-4192.  An August 21, 2015, Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits, VA Form 21-4192, states that the Veteran's last day of employment was May 14, 2015 and his last day worked was May 6, 2014.  An August 24, 2015, Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits, VA Form 21-4192, states that the Veteran's last day of employment was May 4, 2015 and the "date of last payment" was July 18, 2014.  USPS Gross Pay Data sheets reflect that the Veteran last worked during a pay period ending July 18, 2014.  At the Board hearing, the Veteran testified that he had last worked in May 2014.  

The USPS should be again contacted and requested to clarify the date when the Veteran's employment ended.  

2. Entitlement to special monthly compensation at the housebound rate prior to July 18, 2014, and after January 1, 2015, is remanded.  

The issue of entitlement to special monthly compensation at the housebound rate prior to July 18, 2014, and after January 1, 2015, is an ancillary benefit associated and intertwined with the claim of entitlement to a TDIU prior to May 15, 2015, being remanded and therefore must also be remanded.  

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The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Contact the USPS and request that it clarify the Veteran's last date of employment.

 

 

J. T. HUTCHESON

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	I. Umez-Eronini, 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.