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thanks for joining us today we're continuing our series about the series issues at the board of
veterans appeals and we want to highlight legal action cck is taking to improve VA appeal delay
in this video we'll be explaining one of two major initiatives our firms taking first let's
discuss VA regulation 38 CFR 4.16 total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability
of the individual or tdiu there are two ways a veteran May obtain tdiu a veteran may be awarded
scheduler or extra scheduler tdiu under 38 CFR 4.16a a veteran must have one service connected
disability rated at least 60 percent disabling or more than one service connected disability
with one condition rated at least 40 percent and a combined rating of at least 70 percent
to meet the schedule requirements for tdiu if a veteran does not meet these criteria they
can still qualify for extra scheduler tdiu if their service connected conditions prevent them
from securing and following substantially gainful employment so 38 CFR section 4.16
B states that a veteran's case should be referred to the director of compensation service for extra
scheduler consideration when the veteran's service connection containected conditions
render them unable to work but do not meet the percentage requirements for scheduler tdiu so
how does this relate to appeals at the board many veterans seeking extra scheduler tdiu in their bva
appeals find that the board refuses to issue a final decision on entitlement to extra scheduler
tdiu instead the board remands these claims meaning they send them back to the regional
office for extra scheduler consideration by the director of compensation services this
practice is often futile because the director of compensation Services rubber stamp denies tdiu
and a veteran must appeal again to seek this benefit it means the veterans must wait even
longer to receive a decision on tdiu the wait time can substantially increase because when
an appeal is remanded for further development and the veteran is in the new system under the appeals
modernization act the veteran loses their place on the board's docket the docket is the Veterans
place in line by needlessly remanding appeals the bva is adding unnecessary development to the RO
then went back before the bva the veteran is placed at the back of the docket line
so what are we going to do cck is taking legal action against the Department of Veterans Affairs
we are going to file a petition for writ of mandamus at the United States court of appeals
for the federal circuit a rhyth of mandamus is an order from a court directing a person or entity
to perform or stop performing a certain action specifically we are arguing that veterans have
a legal right to waive a board remand for the regional office to correct a purely procedural
defect that poses little to no likelihood of the regional office procuring new information
or evidence to support the claim in other words veterans should be able to waive their right to
review by the director of compensation in favor of receiving a decision from the board that is
more than qualified to make a tdiu determination veterans have a right to waive a remand under
Section 20.802 A for RO compliance with Section 4.16 B cck believes that the board is needlessly
delaying appeals by not allowing veterans to waive the right to a remand in the state
we believe that if there is no perceived benefit to the veteran when an appeal is remanded they
should have the right to forego a remand and get a final decision we will continue to provide updates
as its legal action progresses in the meantime check out our recent videos to get a sense of the
issues at the board and understand why we feel legal action is necessary thanks for tuning in
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thank you