Blackburn v. Lost Creek Mining

OPINION OF THE COURT

This workers’ compensation appeal concerns whether the Court of Appeals erred by reversing the claimant’s retraining incentive benefit (RIB) award based upon its construction of KRS 342.125 as precluding the reopening of a dismissed RIB claim.

In 1992, the claimant had filed a RIB claim against a former employer and submitted medical reports from Drs. Myers and Baker which indicated the presence of category 1/0 pneumoconiosis. Reports from Drs. Wright and Lane indicated category 0/0. The claim was dismissed on April 9, 1993, upon an Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ’s)…