Citation Nr: 22017371 Decision Date: 03/24/22 Archive Date: 03/24/22 DOCKET NO. 18-30 324 DATE: March 24, 2022 REMANDED The appeal for a total disability rating for compensation based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from May 1980 to May 1984. We thank him for his service. He appeals for a TDIU which was denied by the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) in October 2015 based on a claim filed in August 2015. In June 1996, the New Jersey Treasury's Division of Pensions and Benefits found the Veteran to be disabled from working in his job in maintenance, effective from October 1, 1995 due to a back disability. Service connection is in effect for obstructive sleep apnea with asthma, rated 50 percent; gastroesophageal reflux disease with Barrett's esophagus, rated 10 percent prior to January 13, 2020 and 30 percent from that date; anxiety disorder, rated 30 percent; tinnitus, rated 10 percent; allergic rhinitis, rated 10 percent; and hypertension, rated noncompensable. The Veteran's combined rating is 70 percent prior to January 21, 2019, and 80 percent from January 21, 2019. His August 2015 VA Form 21-8940 indicates that he has 1 year of college education and work experience as a census worker and at a VA regional office, with him working as late as June 2010 as a census worker. The appellate scheme set forth in 38 U.S.C. § 7104 (a) contemplates that pertinent evidence will first be reviewed at the AOJ so as not to deprive the claimant of an opportunity to prevail with a claim at that level. When the AOJ receives evidence relevant to a claim properly before it that is not duplicative of evidence already discussed in the statement of the case or a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC), and the case has already been transferred to the Board, a waiver of AOJ review should be requested. If the case has not transferred to the Board then it must be remanded so that an SSOC can be issued. After the AOJ denied the Veteran's claim for a TDIU in October 2015, it issued him a statement of the case on the matter in May 2018. No supplemental statement of the case has been issued. Since the May 2018 statement of the case (SOC), and before the case was transferred to the Board, an April 2019 VA GERD examination report and relevant VA treatment records were added to the file. No waiver of AOJ consideration has been provided. Thus, remand is required. The Board notes that since the May 2018 SOC was issued, and after the case was transferred to the Board, a June 2020 VA hypertension examination report and a November 2021 private psychological report was added to the file. This evidence will also need to be considered by the AOJ upon remand. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: (Continued on the next page) Issue an SSOC readjudicating the claim for TDIU in light of all of the Veteran's service connected disabilities, including hypertension, as well as all evidence received after the May 2018 statement of the case, including the April 2020 VA GERD examination report, the June 2020 VA hypertension examination report, and the November 2021 report of a private psychological evaluation. Rebecca N. Poulson Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Lawson 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.