Louis E. Underhill and Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor v. Peabody Coal Company and Old Republic Insurance Company

Summary

The Seventh Circuit reviewed the denial of Louis Underhill's black lung benefits claim under the Department of Labor's interim pneumoconiosis presumption. The court held that uncontroverted medical evidence rebutted the presumption and affirmed the Benefits Review Board's order denying benefits. The court declined to decide the constitutional validity of the regulation's aggravation concept because the medical evidence independently resolved the case.

Holdings

1. The presumption was rebutted as a matter of law by uncontradicted, credible medical evidence that Underhill was not disabled as a result of pneumoconiosis and that his chronic obstructive lung disease was not caused or aggravated by coal-dust exposure.
2. The Department of Labor may not apply a more demanding evidentiary standard to rebuttal evidence offered by mine operators and insurers than it applies to medical evidence offered by claimants to invoke the presumption.
3. The court declined to decide the constitutional issue because the case was resolved on the independent ground that Dr. Nay's opinion rebutted the presumption.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the uncontroverted medical evidence rebutted the presumption of total disability due to pneumoconiosis under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(b)(4).
2. Whether the administrative law judge improperly applied a reasonable-degree-of-medical-certainty standard to the employer's rebuttal evidence when the regulation permitted claimants to invoke the presumption through a physician's reasoned medical judgment.
3. Whether the court should decide the constitutional validity of the Department of Labor's aggravation concept incorporated into the regulatory definition of pneumoconiosis.

Disposition

affirmed