Whittaker v. Morgan

OPINION OF THE COURT

The claimant sought benefits for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and settled the matter with the employer and the Special Fund for a 75% occupational disability. Later, he successfully reopened the claim due to increased pulmonary impairment and was awarded a total disability against which no credit was given to the defendants for overlapping benefits that were payable under the settlement. A petition for reconsideration by the Special Fund requested such a credit but was overruled. This appeal concerns whether a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) that the…