Wright v. Hopwood Mining

OPINION OF THE COURT

The sole issue presented by this case is whether an Administrative Law Judge (AU) may exercise discretion in choosing among a claimant’s spirometric test values to determine the level of workers’ compensation benefits to be awarded pursuant to KRS 342.732.

Claimant worked in the mining industry for 25 years, with his last exposure occurring on July 24, 1988. Subsequently, he filed a claim for compensation benefits, asserting that he had contracted coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. The AU ruled that claimant suffered from category 1 disease and, citing Osborne v. Johnson, Ky.,…