Court Upholds Black Lung Award to Former Employee of Construction Co.

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a worker was entitled to black lung benefits from the successor corporation to a mine construction company, based on his employment with both companies for a period exceeding one year. Case: Frontier-Kemper Constructors v. Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, No. 16-1849, 11/30/2017, published. Facts: During the 1970s, Frontier Constructors and Kemper Construction formed a partnership that worked on heavy construction projects in the mining industry. Grat M. Smith worked for the partnership from December 1973 throug...