Gray v. SLC Coal Co.
| Citation | 176 F.3d 382 |
| Decision Date | 24 May 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-4427,97-4427 |
| Parties | Hazel GRAY, Widow of Jack Gray, Petitioner, v. SLC COAL COMPANY; M & M Coal Company; Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor, Respondents. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
John E. Anderson (argued and briefed), Cole, Cole & Anderson, Barbourville, KY, for Petitioner.
Mark E. Solomons (argued and briefed), Laura Metcoff Klaus (briefed), Arter & Hadden, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Joseph W. Bowman (briefed), Street, Street, Street, Scott & Bowman, Grundy, VA, for Respondent.
Patricia Nece (briefed), Sarah M. Hurley (briefed), U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Before: MARTIN, Chief Judge; RYAN and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
Hazel Gray, the widow of Jack Gray, appeals the decision of the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board denying her survivor's claim filed pursuant to Title IV of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, 30 U.S.C. §§ 901-45. Mrs. Gray's petition for survivor's benefits asserts that her husband suffered from complicated pneumoconiosis, the most severe stage of "black lung disease." Under the Act, persons found to have complicated pneumoconiosis receive the benefit of an irrebuttable presumption that they are totally disabled by the disease and that the disease caused their death. See 20 C.F.R. § 718.304 (1998). Persons with a milder form of the disease are unable to invoke this irrebuttable presumption, and they or their survivors must instead prove that pneumoconiosis actually caused their death or total disability in order to receive benefits under the Act. See 20 C.F.R. § 718.204 (1998).
Because Mr. Gray died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mrs. Gray would not be eligible for benefits without the application of the irrebuttable presumption. An administrative law judge determined that Mr. Gray did not suffer from complicated pneumoconiosis, and was thus not entitled to the irrebuttable presumption. The Benefits Review Board affirmed, finding that the ALJ's determination was supported by substantial evidence.
Because the ALJ applied the correct standard and reached a conclusion that is supported by substantial evidence in the record, we AFFIRM the decision of the Benefits Review Board.
Jack Gray was born on July 17, 1936. He began working in coal mines at the age of 15, and continued to work there for 34 years. He married Hazel Gray on January 30, 1960. They remained married until his death in 1986.
Mr. Gray's chest x-rays, taken during 1974, indicated the presence of lung changes associated with coal workers' pneumoconiosis. At that time, however, an examining physician found his chest sounds to be normal. These x-rays were taken more than eight years before Mr.Gray began working for SLC Coal Company.
On November 22, 1985, Mr. Gray was injured by an electrical shock at work. He was treated by Dr. Matheny in connection with his injuries from this accident and for Parkinson's disease. Dr. Matheny found Mr. Gray to be permanently and totally disabled as a result of both the accident and the disease. Mr. Gray began receiving workers' compensation benefits based upon his disability.
In early 1986, he was x-rayed again. This time, Dr. Wright, who read the x-ray, found an opacity (a darkened area) nearly 5 centimeters in diameter on Mr. Gray's lung. Dr. Pongdee, who also read the x-ray, found that the x-ray was "consistent with coal workers' pneumoconiosis." But Mr. Gray's electrocardiogram and treadmill test, both administered by Dr. Gay, were normal.
On June 27, 1986, less than one year after his accident, Mr. Gray fatally shot himself in the head. The ensuing autopsy report concluded that the gunshot wound was the cause of Mr. Gray's death. According to Dr. Hunsaker, who performed the autopsy, Mr. Gray's lungs showed evidence of complicated pneumoconiosis. The doctor's report stated that the pneumoconiosis in Mr. Gray's lungs was the most advanced that he had seen in the course of four to five thousand autopsies in Kentucky. But Dr. Kleinerman, an expert in the field of pathology, examined the lung-tissue slides taken from the autopsy and disagreed with Dr. Hunsaker's conclusion. He found that Mr. Gray did not have any large opacities as found by Dr. Hunsaker, but only a series of smaller opacities (characteristic of simple pneumoconiosis) that were clustered closely together, making them appear to be a larger opacity.
Mrs. Gray filed for federal black lung benefits on July 30, 1986. On September 1, 1988, Administrative Law Judge Eugene T. Burts issued a decision and order denying benefits. ALJ Burts found that there was significant x-ray and autopsy evidence that Mr. Gray suffered from complicated pneumoconiosis, but determined that the irrebuttable presumption set forth in 20 C.F.R. § 718.304 was not applicable because Mr. Gray's death was due to a gunshot wound.
On appeal, the Benefits Review Board vacated ALJ Burts's decision, holding that Mr. Gray's death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound would not rebut the presumption set forth in § 718.304, which by its own terms is irrebuttable. The Board remanded the case for a determination of whether the evidence as a whole supported the conclusion that Mr. Gray suffered from complicated pneumoconiosis.
ALJ Burts was no longer with the Office of Administrative Law Judges when Mr. Gray's case was remanded. Administrative Law Judge Ralph A. Romano was therefore assigned to hear the case. On May 4, 1993, ALJ Romano issued a decision and order denying benefits. In this order, the ALJ found that although the x-ray evidence showed the existence of complicated pneumoconiosis, the autopsy evidence did not. He explained that he had looked at the evidence as a whole in making his determination, and that he credited the autopsy evidence over the x-ray evidence. He further found that even if Mr. Gray did have complicated pneumoconiosis, it had reached its most severe stage before he began working for SLC. He based this conclusion upon the evidence that Mr. Gray's respiratory function was at its worst in 1974. The ALJ thus reasoned that SLC was not the responsible operator under the Act.
Mrs. Gray appealed, challenging the ALJ's finding that Mr. Gray did not have complicated pneumoconiosis. On June 22 1993, while the appeal was pending, she filed a request for modification based upon new evidence developed after the previous denial. The Benefits Review Board granted her request and remanded the claim for modification proceedings pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 725.309 (1998).
On remand, M & M Coal Company was identified as an additional putative responsible operator. On March 26, 1996, ALJ Romano issued a Decision and Order Upon Modification Denying Benefits. In that Order, he explained again that although the x-rays contained evidence of complicated pneumoconiosis, and Dr. Hunsaker's autopsy report supported that conclusion, he was persuaded that Mr. Gray had only simple pneumoconiosis on the basis of Dr. Kleinerman's review of the autopsy slides. He stated that he placed greater reliance upon Dr. Kleinerman than upon the other physicians because Dr. Kleinerman is a leading authority in the field, upon whose methodology even Dr. Hunsaker had relied in making his determination. Because he found that complicated pneumoconiosis was not present, ALJ Romano did not determine whether SLC or M & M was the proper responsible operator under the Act.
Mrs. Gray appealed the March 26, 1996 decision to the Benefits Review Board which affirmed the ALJ on May 27, 1997. The Board found that the ALJ's determination was supported by substantial evidence and in accordance with the law. It further found that the ALJ was within his discretion when he credited Dr. Kleinerman's opinion over the other medical evidence before him. On November 17, 1997, the Board denied Mrs. Gray's motion for reconsideration. Mrs. Gray then filed a timely petition for appeal to this court.
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis, known as "black lung disease," is caused by the long-term inhalation of coal dust. See, e.g., Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co., 428 U.S. 1, 6, 96 S.Ct. 2882, 49 L.Ed.2d 752 (1976). It is generally diagnosed by x-rays showing opacities in the lungs, or by autopsy evidence. See id. at 7, 96 S.Ct. 2882. Pneumoconiosis is classified in two ways: "simple" and "complicated." See id. In its simple form, the disease is not necessarily disabling. See id. The complicated form, however, causes significant pulmonary impairment and respiratory disability. See id. Complicated pneumoconiosis is progressive, and often takes years to manifest itself. See id. at 7-8, 96 S.Ct. 2882.
Section 411(c)(3) of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, 30 U.S.C. § 921(c)(3), provides as follows:
If a miner is suffering or suffered from a chronic dust disease of the lung which (A) when diagnosed by chest roentgenogram, yields one or more large opacities (greater than one centimeter in diameter) and would be classified in category A, B, or C in the International Classification of Radiographs of the Pneumoconioses by the International Labor Organization, (B) when diagnosed by biopsy or autopsy, yields massive lesions in the lung, or (C) when diagnosis is made by other means, would be a condition which could reasonably be expected to yield results described in clause (A) or (B) if diagnosis had been made in the manner prescribed in clause (A) or (B), then there shall be an irrebuttable presumption that he is totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis or that his death was due to pneumoconiosis or that at the time of his death he was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis, as the case may be.
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