Split Supreme Court Denies Benefits to Coal Miner's Widow

A divided West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a widow was not entitled to benefits for the death of her husband, since a preponderance of the evidence indicated that he had died from a rare neurodegenerative disorder, not occupational pneumoconiosis. Case: Lawless v. West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner, No. 17-0603, 12/19/2017, published. Facts: Phillip Lawless Jr. worked in underground coal mines for almost 20 years. In the early 1980s, he began complaining of shortness of breath. In 1988, chest X-rays which revealed irregular nodular fibrosis, but the Occupational P...