The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are found to be so severe that they prevent her from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment, and a TDIU is granted.
The deciding factor: Multiple medical opinions indicate the Veteran's service-connected conditions render her unable to work in her usual field of firefighting and preclude her from performing any physical employment. The combined effect of all her disabilities results in an inability to attend to basic work functions.
- Claimed conditions
- Major depressive disorder, Lumbar spine degenerative disc disease status post L4-S1 fusion, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, Tinnitus, Right thumb injury, Allergic rhinitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- June 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19146052
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19146052.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied extraschedular ratings for the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine and lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as well as a total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to February 3, 2011.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected major depressive disorder does not render him in need of regular aid and attendance or confined to his home, thus SMC based on housebound status and/or need for regular aid and attendance is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
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