Bradford v. Workers' Compensation Commissioner

MILLER, Chief Justice:

This appeal involves a claim for widow’s benefits under W.Va.Code, 23-4-10(b) (1978), in which we are asked to address the degree of proof that must be shown to establish that a deceased employee’s occupational pneumoconiosis (OP) caused his death. The application of the claimant, Corena Bradford, for widow’s benefits was rejected by the Workers’ Compensation Commissioner and the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board on the ground that OP was neither the cause of nor a major contributing factor in the death of the claimant’s deceased spouse, John Bradford.

Mr. Bradford was…