Hatfield v. Eastern Coal Corp.

WILHOIT, Judge.

The issue presented by this appeal concerns the amount of credit allowed an employer for voluntary payments made under a sickness and accident plan. The “old” board found the appellant, Cecil Hatfield, to be 100% permanently occupationally disabled from pneumoconiosis and awarded him benefits of $322.19 a week for life. Pursuant to KRS 342.316, the board apportioned the award twenty-five percent to the appellee-employer Eastern Coal Corporation ($80.55 per week) and seventy-five percent to the Special Fund ($241.64 per week). As usual, the award allowed the employer to take…