Trade Groups Challenge W.Va. Court's Interpretation of Occupational Disease Law

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Several groups representing claimants with alleged occupational disease are petitioning the West Virginia Supreme Court, arguing that its recent decision placing absolute evidentiary burden on the claimant is unconstitutional because it treats certain workers' comp claims differently than others. Rhodes v. Workers' Compensation Division, No. 27831 (W.Va. Sup. Ct. App.).

In the objectors' brief filed Jan. 19 in West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, amici claim the standards upheld by the court's Dec. 11 decision create a complex environment for the adjudication of otherwise routine occupational claims.

The problem, the brief says, lies in the court's interpretation …