Supreme Court Denies Increased Impairment Rating for Coal Miner With Hearing Loss

The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a retired coal mine worker was not entitled to an increased impairment rating for his occupational hearing loss. Case: Murray American Energy Inc. v. Arnold, No. 21-0219, 05/26/2022, published. Facts: Charles Arnold worked for Murray American Energy Inc. as a greaser in a coal mine. He filed an Employees' and Physicians' Report of Occupational Hearing Loss in February 2019 in which he indicated he had just retired after 25 years of exposure to noise from working around explosives. Attached to the report was an audiogram conducted by Diana ...