Glen E. Staton v. Norfolk & Western Railway Company, Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Department of Labor, Party-In-Interest

DAVID A. NELSON, Circuit Judge.

This is a black lung case in which the Benefits Review Board affirmed the decision of an administrative law judge denying a claim for benefits. The ALJ determined initially that the claimant qualified under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(a) as “[a] miner who engaged in coal mine employment for at least 10 years ...” If this determination was correct, it meant that the claimant would be entitled to a presumption of total disability due to pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) if any of the five medical requirements specified in § 727.203(a) were met. But the ALJ rejected a…