3rd Circuit Affirms Award for Coal Miner Despite Long Smoking History

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals panel has affirmed a disability award for a coal miner after refusing to overrule an Administrative Law Judge’s reliance on a medical expert’s opinion that lung damage caused by coal dust is indistinguishable from damage caused by cigarette smoke. R.F.I. Energy Inc., et al. v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, No. 10-4068 (3rd Cir.).

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said in an unpublished opinion July 17 that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that exposure to coal dust was a substantial contributing factor in David C. Elliott’s pneumoconiosis to merit compensation under the …