Buchanan v. Workers' Compensation Commissioner

MILLER, Justice:

This is an appeal from an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board dated November 9, 1983, which affirmed the State Workers’ Compensation Commissioner’s ruling rejecting Walter Buchanan’s application for occupational pneumoconiosis benefits on the ground that the claimant was not exposed to the hazards of the disease for the statutory period. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse.

On June 5, 1980, the claimant filed an application for occupational pneumoconiosis benefits, accompanied by a physician’s report with a medical diagnosis of asbestosis.1 On December 30,…