The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, finding that he was not precluded from all types of substantially gainful employment consistent with his background and education.

The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran had sufficient transferrable skills from his carpentry work to perform sedentary jobs such as working at a computer or taking tickets at a toll booth, despite his service-connected disabilities affecting hearing, feet, and back.

Claimed conditions

tinnitus, hearing loss, pes planus with hallux valgus, lumbar degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome (lumbar spine disability), right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve) associated with lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve) associated with lumbar spine disability, right lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve) associated with lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve) associated with lumbar spine disability

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

March 5, 2025

Citation

A25020197

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine