Source: http://openjurist.org/593/f2d/758/back-v-a-califano
Timestamp: 2015-10-06 08:36:04
Document Index: 11611321

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 801', '§ 410', '§ 410', '§ 923', '§ 405', '§ 410']

593 F2d 758 Back v. A Califano | OpenJurist
593 F. 2d 758 - Back v. A Califano HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 593 F.2d.
593 F2d 758 Back v. A Califano 593 F.2d 758
James D. BACK, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.Joseph A. CALIFANO, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education andWelfare, Defendant-Appellee.
Argued Oct. 13, 1978.Decided March 5, 1979.
James C. Cissell, U. S. Atty., Cincinnati, Ohio, Joseph E. Kane, II, Asst. U. S. Atty., Columbus, Ohio, for defendant-appellee.
Before EDWARDS, Chief Judge, and WEICK, Circuit Judge, and LAWRENCE*, Senior District Judge.
Plaintiff-appellant Back has appealed to this Court from an order of the District Court affirming the denial by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare of his claim for black lung benefits. On appeal he submits that the decision of the Secretary is not supported by substantial evidence. He next contends that under Begley v. Mathews, 544 F.2d 1345 (6th Cir. 1976), Cert. denied, 430 U.S. 985, 97 S.Ct. 1684, 52 L.Ed.2d 380 (1977), certain 1975 evidence relates back to establish total disability due to pneumoconiosis existing on or before the June 30, 1973 date for establishing such total disability. He further contends that even if he is not entitled to benefits under Begley, he is entitled to an award of benefits under the most recent supplements to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, 30 U.S.C. § 801 Et seq., contained in the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, Pub.L. No. 95-239, 92 Stat. 95, signed into law March 1, 1978, and regulations promulgated thereunder which were adopted by the Secretary of Labor on August 18, 1978. See 43 Fed.Reg. 36,772-831 (1978).
Back is a 56 year old former miner. He is married and has no dependent children. Between 1942 and 1958 he worked for the Westmoreland Coal Company. The Administrative Law Judge found that Back worked in the Westmoreland mine for thirteen and one-fourth years, of those sixteen years. This finding is unchallenged. He quit his work as a miner in 1958. At the time he quit there was no indication that he was suffering from black lung or any other disease; nor was he disabled in any respect. In fact, from 1959 to 1972 Back worked for a local company in a warehouse as a packer of merchandise for shipment to retail outlets, and as a shipping and receiving clerk. In 1972 he suffered a heart attack and stopped working. On December 9, 1972, because he had applied for and obtained an award, he began receiving total and permanent disability Social Security benefits for arteriosclerotic heart disease. He did not file a claim for worker's compensation as this type of benefit is ordinarily awarded only for disability arising from physical injury sustained in the course of employment, as distinguished from disease which may be incurred by anyone irrespective of employment.
Back filed a claim for benefits under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended in 1972, on April 30, 1973. His application was denied initially and upon reconsideration.
Back requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. A hearing was held on November 11, 1975, at which hearing he appeared and testified. The Administrative Law Judge denied benefits to Back. The Appeals Council affirmed on May 4, 1976.
On June 3, 1976 Back filed an action in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, seeking a review of the Secretary's decision. The District Court held that the decision of the Secretary was supported by substantial evidence and denied Back's motion for summary judgment. We agree.
On appeal Back contends that he has presented sufficient medical evidence of lung disease existing on or before the June 30, 1973 deadline, to be entitled to a presumption of total disability due to pneumoconiosis under 20 C.F.R. § 410.490(b).1 Because he worked for more than ten years in the Westmoreland mine, he submits that he also has the benefit of a presumption that his pneumoconiosis arose out of his employment at the mine under § 410.416.2 He contends that he has presented sufficient medical evidence and that he should enjoy both the presumption that he is totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis and the presumption that his disabling pneumoconiosis arose out of his mine employment from 1942 to 1958.3
Judicial review of the Secretary's findings of fact is limited to whether there is substantial evidence to support such findings. 30 U.S.C. § 923(b); 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). See, e. g., Beavers v. Secretary of HEW, 577 F.2d 383 (6th Cir. 1978); Hephner v. Mathews, 574 F.2d 359 (6th Cir. 1978); Stille v. Weinberger, 499 F.2d 244 (6th Cir. 1974); Futernick v. Richardson, 484 F.2d 647 (6th Cir. 1973); Myers v. Richardson, 471 F.2d 1265 (6th Cir. 1972); Ross v. Richardson, 440 F.2d 690 (6th Cir. 1971); Ragan v. Finch, 435 F.2d 239 (6th Cir. 1970); Rose v. Cohen, 406 F.2d 753 (6th Cir. 1969); Lane v. Gardner, 374 F.2d 612, 616 (6th Cir. 1967). In Begley, supra, this Court held, after reviewing the legislative history of the Act, that under 20 C.F.R. § 410.490 the medical evidence must establish total disability d