McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corp. v. Sargent

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE HUGHES

After Farley Sargent II was fatally injured while working in a Pike County mine in June 2012, his statutory beneficiaries settled their workers' compensation claims with his employer, McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corporation, leaving only a bifurcated issue regarding enhanced benefits. Specifically, Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 342.165(1) provides for a 30% increase of any workers' compensation payments that would otherwise be due if the accident at issue was caused in any degree by the employer's failure to comply with statutes or administrative regulations…