Fields v. Carbon River Coal Co.

HUDDLESTON, Judge.

This review of a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board presents an issue of first impression under Ky.Rev.Stat. (KRS) 342.316(2)(b)2.b. and KRS 342.732, that is whether an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has the discretion to choose pre-bronchodilator or post-bronchodilator test results in a workers’ pneumoconiosis claim. We hold that the ALJ does not have such discretion and, therefore, reverse.

Ed Neil Fields has been employed in the mining industry since 1957. In April 1992, he began working for Carbon River Coal Company. Shortly thereafter, Fields filed for workers’…