4th Circuit Declines to Find That Mine Company’s Nondisclosure of Pathology Reports Was Fraud

RICHMOND, Va. – The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Elk Run Coal Co.'s failure to produce adverse pathology reports to the claimant or to its own experts in defense of a miner's claim for black lung benefits was not sufficiently egregious to amount to a fraud on the court.

The court's Jan. 3 opinion affirmed a ruling by the U.S. Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board, which rejected arguments that Elk Run 's conduct deprived coal miner Gary Fox of a decade of benefits.

“The Benefits Review Board (“BRB”) found that Elk Run’s conduct was not sufficiently …