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 STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

Coronado Coal Corporation,

Employer Below, Petitioner

vs.) No. 21-0979 (BOR Appeal No. 2057162)

(Claim No. 2021001095)

 

Roger D. Muncy Jr., 

Claimant Below, Respondent

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Petitioner Coronado Coal Corporation appeals the decision of the West Virginia Workers’ 

Compensation Board of Review (“Board of Review”). Roger D. Muncy Jr. filed a timely 

response.1 The issue on appeal is additional compensable conditions. The claims administrator 

denied the addition of cervical and thoracic sprains to the claim on October 7, 2020. The Workers’ 

Compensation Office of Judges (“Office of Judges”) reversed the decision in its July 23, 2021, 

Order and added cervical and thoracic sprains to the claim. The Order was affirmed by the Board 

of Review on November 18, 2021. Upon our review, we determine that oral argument is 

unnecessary and that a memorandum decision affirming the Board of Review’s decision is 

appropriate. See W. Va. R. App. P. 21. 

Mr. Muncy, an electrician, injured his right hand and fingers on July 15, 2020, when he 

sustained an electrical shock in the course of his employment. He sought treatment that day from 

Logan Regional Medical Center where he reported tingling in his right hand to the elbow, 

involuntary left cheek movement, and pain in his right ring, middle, and index fingers. He had full 

range of motion in the neck and back. The Employees’ and Physicians’ Report of Injury, completed 

that day, indicates Mr. Muncy sustained a right upper extremity electrical shock. 

On July 16, 2020, Mr. Muncy sought treatment from Family Healthcare Associates for his 

electrocution injury. Physical examination showed cervical muscle spasms, tenderness on 

palpation of the cervical spine, and pain with range of motion of the cervical spine. He was 

diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, muscle spasm, and electrocution. On July 20, 2020, a 

physical examination showed lumbar spine tenderness and decreased range of motion. The 

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Petitioner, Coronado Coal Corporation, is represented by Steven K. Wellman and James 

W. Heslep, and respondent, Roger D. Muncy Jr., is represented by Steven S. Wolfe.

FILED

September 14, 2023

EDYTHE NASH GAISER, CLERK

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS

OF WEST VIRGINIA
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diagnoses were neck strain, thoracic strain, peripheral neuropathy, muscle spasm, and 

electrocution. The claim was held compensable for right hand electrical shock on July 23, 2020.

Randall Short, D.O., performed a physician review on August 19, 2020, in which he

determined that the records do not support a finding of cervical or thoracic spine injuries. He noted 

that the treatment notes from Family Healthcare Associates were inconsistent because Mr. Muncy

did not report cervical or thoracic spine issues. However, the physical examination showed 

tenderness, spasms, and other findings. 

Mr. Muncy underwent a cervical MRI on August 21, 2020, which showed multilevel 

degenerative changes with mild to moderate canal and foraminal narrowing. On August 26, 2020, 

Mr. Muncy sought treatment from Robert Lewis II, M.D., for electrocution, neuropathy, and 

muscle spasms. He reported numbness from his neck down his right arm. Mr. Muncy asserted that 

when he was shocked, he hit his head on the roof and fell backwards into some toolboxes. Dr. 

Lewis diagnosed electrocution, left arm and bilateral lower extremity numbness, weakness, and 

occipital neuralgia. On October 7, 2020, the claims administrator denied the addition of cervical 

and thoracic sprains to the claim. 

Prasadarao Mukkamala, M.D. performed an independent medical evaluation on January 

12, 2021, in which he noted that a physical examination was normal, and Mr. Muncy had returned 

to work with no restrictions. Dr. Mukkamala found that Mr. Muncy reached maximum medical 

improvement and required no further treatment. In an April 19, 2021, addendum to his report, Dr. 

Mukkamala opined that Mr. Muncy did not injure his cervical or thoracic spine as a result of the 

compensable injury. 

The Office of Judges reversed the claims administrator’s decision and added cervical and 

thoracic sprains to the claim. It found that medical records from Family Healthcare Associates 

from July 16, 2020, through October 26, 2020, document cervical muscle spasms, tenderness, and 

pain with range of motion as well as lumbar tenderness, decreased range of motion, and decreased 

strength. The diagnoses were cervical and thoracic strains and the Office of Judges found that there 

was no cause for the conditions other than the compensable injury. The Office of Judges noted that 

the employer relied on the report of Dr. Lewis, who made no assessment of cervical or thoracic 

strains. However, the Office of Judges found that there is no indication that Dr. Lewis examined 

Mr. Muncy for such conditions. Further, Dr. Lewis is a neurologist, and his examination would 

have been searching for neurological deficits, not soft tissue injuries like a strain. 

The Office of Judges determined that Dr. Mukkamala’s evaluation and supplemental report 

were unreliable for the issue at hand. There was no indication that Dr. Mukkamala examined Mr. 

Muncy’s cervical or thoracic spine. Dr. Mukkamala’s opinion in his supplemental report that Mr. 

Muncy did not injure his cervical or thoracic spine as a result of the compensable injury was based 

on Dr. Lewis’s documentation of no muscle spasms. The Office of Judges again noted that Dr. 

Lewis did not perform a complete cervical or thoracic spine evaluation. 

Regarding Dr. Short’s physician review, the Office of Judges noted that the report was 

based on a review of records, not an actual physical examination of Mr. Muncy. Dr. Short’s finding 
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of no cervical or thoracic spine injuries was based on the report by Family Healthcare Associates,

which contained no complaints of cervical or thoracic spine issues. However, the Office of Judges 

determined that the treatment notes dealt with the chief complaint of electrocution. The Office of 

Judges found that the lack of notes detailing the secondary conditions or complaints does not defeat 

the objective physical examination findings of cervical and thoracic spine symptoms. The Office 

of Judges ultimately concluded that Mr. Muncy sustained his burden of proof establishing that he 

developed cervical and thoracic spine strains as a result of his compensable injury. The Board of 

Review adopted the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Office of Judges and affirmed 

its decision on November 18, 2021. 

This Court may not reweigh the evidentiary record, but must give deference to the findings, 

reasoning, and conclusions of the Board of Review, and when the Board’s decision effectively 

represents a reversal of a prior order of either the Workers’ Compensation Commission or the 

Office of Judges, we may reverse or modify that decision only if it is in clear violation of 

constitutional or statutory provisions, is clearly the result of erroneous conclusions of law, or is so 

clearly wrong based upon the evidentiary record that even when all inferences are resolved in favor 

of the Board’s findings, reasoning, and conclusions, there is insufficient support to sustain the 

decision. See W. Va. Code §§ 23-5-15(c) & (e). We apply a de novo standard of review to questions 

of law. See Justice v. W. Va. Off. Ins. Comm’n, 230 W. Va. 80, 83, 736 S.E.2d 80, 83 (2012).

After review, we agree with the reasoning and conclusions of the Office of Judges as 

affirmed by the Board of Review. The standard for the addition of conditions to a claim is the same 

as for compensability. For an injury to be compensable it must be a personal injury that was 

received in the course of employment, and it must have resulted from that employment. See Barnett 

v. State Workmen’s Comp. Comm’r, 153 W. Va. 796, 172 S.E.2d 698 (1970). Mr. Muncy has met 

his burden of proof showing that he sustained cervical and thoracic sprains in the course of and 

resulting from his employment. His cervical and thoracic spine symptoms are well documented in 

the record following the compensable injury. The Board of Review committed no reversible error 

in affirming the addition of cervical and thoracic sprains to the claim. 

 Affirmed.

ISSUED: September 14, 2023

CONCURRED IN BY:

Chief Justice Elizabeth D. Walker 

Justice Tim Armstead

Justice John A. Hutchison

Justice William R. Wooton 

Justice C. Haley Bunn