BVA Case 23-5497: Ptsd

3 Case:23-5497 Page: 4 of 13 Filed:12/10/2024 VA sent the appellant a duty to assist notice letter in July 2019 which included the forms he was required to complete to apply for a TDIU,as well as the information he needed to provide to help develop his claim.

In the July 2023 decision,the Board determined that based on the evidence of record,the appellant's service-connected disabilities did not preclude him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment from December 19,2013.

Based on the appellant's education,income,and work history,the Board determined that the January 2020 private vocational assessment report was not credible or persuasive.

Thus,the Board determined that the appellant was not marginally employed from 2015 to 2019,and that his service-connected disabilities did not preclude him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment.

In response,the Secretary maintains that at the time the July 2023 Board decision was issued, the Board noted that the term 'protected environment'had not beendefinedby regulation and thus it explored the available legal guidance to include casela w such as Arline v.

In particular, the Secretary notes that the Board found that the [a]ppellant's earned wages were generally above the poverty threshold while his total income which includes his pension and social security benefits, 'well exceeded'the poverty threshold.

In this regard,the appellant argues that the Board failed to 7 Case:23-5497 Page: 8 of 13 Filed:12/10/2024 account for all the medical evidence as well as all his statements in the record prior to the January 2020 expert vocational report.

The appellant further notes that while the Board found the basis underlying the January 2020 vocational report not credible,it failed to account for the multiple medical statements in the record prepared by Dr.