Appeals Court: Facts Support Denying Miner's Black Lung Claim Despite Messy Record

The U.S. Department of Labor might have mishandled a coal worker’s pneumoconiosis claim, but its denial was nonetheless backed by substantial evidence, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Casey Samons developed the condition commonly known as black lung disease after working in underground coal mines for 30 years. His widow, Mabel, then engaged in a 17-year fight to receive benefits that ended in 2020 with the Benefits Review Board denying the claim. The 6th COA noted that the Labor Department further delayed the case by filing an incomplete and disorganized administrative rec...