Andrews v. Shinseki

552 F. App'x 985

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Decided: February 4, 2014
• Docket: 2013-7065
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

We hold that, as a matter of law, Mr. Andrews raised a TDIU claim in his 1983 filing to the VA. The Veterans Court should remand the case to the Board for a determination as to whether the record in 1983 established TDIU. If it concludes that the record did not establish TDIU, the VA must explain what legal principle justifies reaching a different result on what appears to be a more favorable record in 1983 than was present when the VA awarded Mr. Andrews TDIU in 1991. 1

Costs

Costs are awarded to Mr. Andrews.

VACATED AND REMANDED

1 . We note that the 1994 Rating Decision granting Mr. Andrews 100% disability for TDIU effective from 1991 explains that he had not worked for the previous year and worked only twenty hours per week at his self-employed lawn service for the four years preceding that date. J.A. 21-22. The 1983 Rating Decision discussed a medical opinion that Mr. Andrews' PTSD rendered him "unemployed if not unemployable.” J.A. 14. It also noted that "[his] work history since leaving the service has been quite sporadic, and he has been unemployed for the past four years.” J.A. 16.