Gulley v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs

TERENCE T. EVANS, Circuit Judge.

In October of 1976, blindness forced Denzle Gulley to stop working as a coal miner for the Sahara Coal Company. In 1977 he sought to recover disability benefits for black lung disease, also known as pneumoconiosis, under the Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. §§ 901-945. Unfortunately, as is often the case, Gulley’s petition for benefits survived him — he died in 1990. An administrative law judge (ALJ) eventually awarded benefits to Gulley’s widow, Evalene, who we refer to by her first name as we move along. The award was then set aside by the Benefits Review…