David Warth v. Southern Ohio Coal Company Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor

Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge WIDENER wrote the opinion, in which Judge RUSSELL and Senior Judge SPROUSE concurred.

WIDENER, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner David Warth appeals from an order of the Benefits Review Board affirming a denial of benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. §§ 901-945. For the following reasons, we vacate the Board’s order and remand the action to the Board with instructions to remand the action to an administrative law judge for reconsideration.

It is undisputed that Warth has at least 22 years of coal mine employment, smoked for many years,…