Arch of Kentucky, Inc. v. Halcomb
| Citation | 925 S.W.2d 460 |
| Decision Date | 25 July 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-SC-1029-WC,95-SC-1029-WC |
| Parties | ARCH OF KENTUCKY, INC., Appellant, v. William HALCOMB; Special Fund; George S. Schuhmann, Administrative Law Judge; and Workers' Compensation Board, Appellees. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky) |
Claimant, who was employed in the defendant's coal mine for approximately 16 years, injured his back at work. In an opinion and award entered May 5, 1992, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) determined that claimant was totally, occupationally disabled, with 30% of the disability being attributed to the back injury, and 70% being attributed to prior, active physical and psychological disability. Neither of the prior, active conditions was subject to a workers' compensation claim. Pursuant to Teledyne-Wirz v. Willhite, Ky.App., 710 S.W.2d 858 (1986), claimant was awarded 30% of a permanent, total disability benefit, payable for life. KRS 342.730(1)(a).
Subsequent to filing the injury claim, a claim for retraining incentive benefits (RIB) also was filed. It was stipulated that claimant's date of last exposure was July 24, 1990. The employer argued that since claimant was totally disabled as a result of the back injury, he was not entitled to receive a RIB.
In an opinion and award entered on May 19, 1994, the ALJ noted that, although claimant was totally disabled, he had been awarded benefits only for 30% of the disability. The ALJ also noted that in Eastern Coal Corporation v. Blankenship, Ky., 813 S.W.2d 808 (1991), the Court had determined that the Act did not require that a RIB be used for retraining. However, in 1994, the legislature amended KRS 342.732(1)(a) in a manner which distinguished workers who continued to work in the mining industry from those who did not. Workers no longer employed in the mining industry continued to be permitted to receive the benefit without using it for retraining. Only those who continued to work in the industry were required by the amendment to use a RIB for retraining. The ALJ noted that, in McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corporation v. Sullivan, Ky., 862 S.W.2d 891 (1993), although the Court had discussed various policy considerations, the holding was only that a worker could not receive a RIB in addition to a total disability benefit. Furthermore, the ALJ did not believe that Sullivan negated the principle that an injured worker is entitled to be compensated for the injury even though a nonwork-related health condition contributed to the worker's inability to work. Therefore, the ALJ concluded that claimant was entitled to receive both awards so long as the combined dollar amount did not exceed the maximum award for total disability.
A majority of the Workers' Compensation Board (Board) affirmed the ALJ's decision, emphasizing that the holding in Sullivan concerned only the dollar amount of the combined awards. The Board explained that, in Sullivan, the Court had acknowledged that a worker's total disability, in and of itself, did not in every instance render retraining the worker an absurdity. See KRS 342.710 and KRS 342.715. The majority concluded that the 1994 amendment to KRS 342.732(1)(a) indicated a legislative intent that retraining not be required for coal workers who no longer were employed in the mining industry.
The dissent focused on language in Sullivan which addressed the absurdity of permitting a worker who was totally disabled by an injury and incapable of rehabilitation to receive a RIB in addition to the benefit for total disability. Furthermore, the dissent construed the 1994 amendment to KRS 342.732(1)(a) as reinforcing the principle that the purpose of the RIB was to retrain workers. Therefore, the dissent concluded that the award of a RIB was not permitted on these facts.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the Board, and the employer appeals. The issue presented by this appeal concerns whether Sullivan stands only for the proposition that a worker may not receive combined weekly benefits in excess of the statutory maximum for total disability or whether it stands for the broader proposition that a permanently and totally disabled worker is ineligible for a RIB.
In Sullivan, the worker was awarded a permanent, total disability for an injury and also was awarded a RIB. There was no prior, active disability to be excluded. The Court's decision that the worker was not entitled to receive a RIB in addition to the benefit for permanent, total disability rested on two lines of reasoning, one based on the purpose of the RIB benefit and the other on the maximum statutory benefit for total disability. Relying on Blankenship, which had concerned only whether a RIB must be used for retraining, the Court noted that the purpose of the RIB was to encourage workers with early stage pneumoconiosis to obtain employment outside the mining industry by providing an incentive for them to retrain. Therefore, it would be absurd to award a RIB to a worker who was no longer employed in the mining industry due to an injury, who was receiving benefits for total disability, and who was incapable of rehabilitation. Furthermore, recognizing that some totally disabled workers are able to reduce the extent of their occupational disability through rehabilitation, the Court noted that, in the event rehabilitation were feasible, the worker would be entitled to rehabilitation services, regardless of whether he received the RIB award. KRS 342.710. Furthermore, since the worker was totally disabled, he also would be entitled to receive enhanced income benefits during the period of rehabilitation. KRS 342.715.
With regard to the second line of reasoning which supported the decision in Sullivan, the Court noted that RIB benefits were the lowest level of benefits available under KRS 342.732 and did not require a showing of occupational disability. Furthermore, since a worker could be no more than totally disabled, workers were not entitled to receive combined benefits for occupational disability pursuant to KRS 342.730 and KRS 342.732 which exceeded the statutory maximum for total disability under either section. See Matney v. Newberg, Ky., 849 S.W.2d 526 (1992); Mooney v. Pittsburg & Midway Coal Co., Ky., 849 S.W.2d 527 (1993). Therefore, the Court concluded that it would be absurd to permit a worker to receive concurrent income and RIB benefits which exceeded the maximum benefit for total disability.
As enacted in 1987, KRS 342.732(1)(a) provided that a RIB was available to those coal workers who produced the requisite evidence of category 1 disease. It explicitly provided that the benefit was payable semimonthly to a worker who...
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Breeding v. Colonial Coal Co.
...was no longer employed, an award would not serve as an inducement for him to leave the mining industry. See Arch of Kentucky, Inc. v. Halcomb, Ky., 925 S.W.2d 460 (1996). Therefore, the claim was dismissed. Claimant appealed. The Workers' Compensation Board (Board) determined that Halcomb d......
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Leslie County Fiscal Court v. Adams
...that, unlike the workers in McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corporation v. Sullivan, Ky., 862 S.W.2d 891 (1993), and Arch of Kentucky, Inc. v. Halcomb, Ky., 925 S.W.2d 460 (1996), claimant was not totally disabled at the time he was awarded a RIB. In fact, at the time claimant was awarded a RIB, he had ......