The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities prior to June 14, 2011, finding that his service-connected conditions did not render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that while the Veteran's service-connected back disability with associated bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy and right knee disability resulted in an inability to perform physical labor such as construction work, he still possessed skills for non-physical occupations like being a pastor at a church.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease, Degenerative disc disease, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, Right knee strain with arthritis, status-post right lateral meniscectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20067287
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 20067287.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's low back disability is currently rated at 20 percent, and the claim for a higher rating is denied. The left shoulder disability is also rated at 20 percent, but there are no incapacitating episodes to warrant a higher rating under the IVDS Formula. The TDIU claim is remanded.
- 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 claim for a higher rating for degenerative disc disease prior to August 1, 2025 was denied as the evidence did not show unfavorable ankylosis of the thoracolumbar spine.,The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy prior to March 10, 2025 were denied as there is no neurological impairment associated with these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability and right leg radiculopathy are granted service connection, but left leg radiculopathy is denied.
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