12-31 989, 12-31 989

Veteran served 1980–1982; filed for TDIU (total disability based on individual unemployability) with an asserted effective date of April 16, 2003.
Service-connected conditions relevant to claim: lumbar degenerative joint disease and bilateral knee disorders (post-op left knee meniscus, left knee degenerative arthritis, right patellofemoral syndrome).
Veteran worked as a plasterer (manual, medium–heavy work) until 2001 and has an 11th grade education; records and private vocational opinions state he could not return to past work.
Multiple vocational reports (2010, 2016) concluded service-connected disabilities alone precluded substantially gainful employment beginning in 2003; VA medical records also noted inability to resume plasterer work.
Director of Compensation Service denied extraschedular TDIU prior to Sept. 1, 2009; Board found that opinion insufficiently reasoned and gave greater weight to private vocational experts.

Issue	Appellant's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Veteran is entitled to an extraschedular TDIU effective April 16, 2003	Veteran: service-connected disabilities alone prevented substantially gainful employment beginning 4/16/2003	VA/Director: extraschedular TDIU not warranted prior to 9/1/2009 (insufficient evidence)	Granted: effective date April 16, 2003, but no earlier; benefit of the doubt resolved for Veteran

Hatlestad v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 524 (1993) (central inquiry is whether service-connected disabilities alone produce unemployability)
Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990) (benefit-of-the-doubt rule when evidence is in equipoise)
Bowling v. Principi, 15 Vet. App. 1 (2001) (Board cannot grant extraschedular TDIU in the first instance)
Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295 (2008) (medical opinions must be fully reasoned to be probative)
Scott v. McDonald, 789 F.3d 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (VA compliance with notice and duty-to-assist standards)