Citation Nr: 23010959
Decision Date: 02/22/23	Archive Date: 02/22/23

DOCKET NO. 16-00 954
DATE: February 22, 2023

ORDER

Effective November 20, 2013, a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

Affording the Veteran the benefit of doubt, the evidence is approximately balanced (nearly equal) in favor of finding the Veteran's symptoms caused by his service-connected disabilities have prevented him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment since at least 2005 (well before the current period on appeal). The Board finds the Veteran's statements about when he stopped working and his stated reasons why, are competent ("qualified") and credible and are assigned significant probative weight. See November 2022 VA Form 21-8940 Veterans Application for increased Compensation Based on Unemployability. With regard to the September 2022 VA examinations, the Board assigns less probative weight to the conclusions reached by the examiner as a whole because the examiner evaluated the Veteran's disabilities individually and did not consider the totality of the Veteran's disabilities as they relate to his ability to obtain and maintain substantially gainful employment. Further, the Board notes an October 2022 rating decision assigned a 100 percent rating for the Veteran's heart condition effective June 25, 2021, which strongly suggests the Veteran's disability picture is more bleak than suggested by the VA examiner. The Veteran meets the schedular requirements for TDIU.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Effective November 20, 2013, the criteria have been met for TDIU. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.340, 3.341, 4.3, 4.16.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran honorably served from April 1976 to April 1981. This matter is before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2014 rating decision by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). A hearing was held before the undersigned in December 2018 ; a transcript of which has been associated with the record.

In June 2019 and May 2021, the Board remanded the Veteran's claims for further development. After remand, the Veteran's combined rating was increased to 90 percent, effective November 20, 2013.

For the reasons outlined in more detail above in the Findings of Fact section, the appeal for TDIU is granted.

 

 

VICTORIA MOSHIASHWILI

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Williams, Michael E. (BVA)

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.