Supreme Court Upholds Denial of Additional Benefits for Worker With Hearing Loss

The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a steelworker was not entitled to a greater amount of permanent partial disability benefits for his occupational hearing loss. Case: Bowen v. Huntington Alloys Corp., No. 21-0120, 04/20/2022, published. Facts: James Bowen was a steelworker for the Huntington Alloys Corp. until his retirement in October 2016. Over the years, he was exposed to excessive noise in the course of his employment, which caused him to suffer occupational hearing loss. Bowen filed a hearing loss claim in which he received an award of 0.5% in 2004. In January 2019, Dr. B. J...