Persinger v. Peabody Coal Co.

WORKMAN, Justice:

This case is before the Court upon the following certified questions posed by the July 26, 1995, order of the United States District Court of the Southern District of West Virginia at Beckley:

May an employee, who has filed a Workers’ Compensation claim and who has been awarded benefits by the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Fund, maintain a cause of action against his employer for damages as a result of the employer knowingly filing a false and/or misleading statement with the Fund in opposition to the employee’s claim?

If such a cause of action for fraud is available,…