Durham v. Peabody Coal Co.

OPINION OF THE COURT

These appeals concern the consensus procedure that KRS 342.316 mandates in coal workers’ pneumoconiosis claims. In each case, an ALJ dismissed the worker’s claim, holding that he failed to rebut a consensus of three “B” readers that the best quality x-ray in evidence was negative. The Workers’ Compensation Board affirmed. The Court of Appeals affirmed and rejected the workers’ argument that the statute violates the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Kentucky Constitution by treating miners who suffer from coal workers’…