Source: http://openjurist.org/892/f2d/503
Timestamp: 2015-07-31 21:46:11
Document Index: 13106577

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 410', '§ 902', '§ 727', '§ 727', '§ 727', '§ 902', '§ 902', '§ 945', '§ 410']

892 F2d 503 Taylor v. Peabody Coal Co | OpenJurist
892 F. 2d 503 - Taylor v. Peabody Coal Co Home
892 F2d 503 Taylor v. Peabody Coal Co 892 F.2d 503
Hubert C. TAYLOR, Petitioner,v.PEABODY COAL CO. and Director, Office of Workers'Compensation Programs, Respondents.
No. 86-2590.
Argued Oct. 28, 1987.Decided Jan. 25, 1988.Reversed and Remanded Jan. 11, 1989.Decided Aug. 28, 1989.*Order on Denial of Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc DeniedFeb. 1, 1990.
This appeal has come before us for the second time. In our earlier opinion in this case, Taylor v. Peabody Coal Co., 838 F.2d 227 (7th Cir.), vacated, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 548, 102 L.Ed.2d 576 (1988) ( "Taylor I"), we denied petitioner Hubert C. Taylor's petition for review of the Benefits Review Board's order reversing the decision of the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") that Taylor was entitled to black lung benefits. On January 11, 1989, the United States Supreme Court reversed and remanded our decision for reconsideration in light of its recent decision in Pittston Coal Group v. Sebben, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 414, 102 L.Ed.2d 408 (1988). On reconsideration, we reverse the decision of the Benefits Review Board and reinstate the ALJ's award of benefits to Taylor.
The black lung benefits program, as enacted by Congress, consists of two parts. Part B is a temporary program of federally financed benefits to be administered by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare ("HEW"), and Part C provides for a more permanent program to be administered by the Secretary of Labor, relying on state workers' compensation programs where possible. Pittston Coal Group, 109 S.Ct. at 417. The Part B program, which applies to claims filed by living miners before June 30, 1973 and before December 31, 1973 for survivors' claims, is administered under regulations promulgated by HEW. Although HEW promulgated both permanent and interim regulations, only the interim regulations, 20 C.F.R. § 410.490 (1973), are at issue here. These regulations set out criteria under which the presumption of entitlement to black lung benefits under Part B can be invoked by the claimant and rebutted by the employer.1
In enacting the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, Pub.L. No. 95-239, 92 Stat. 95 (codified in scattered sections of 30 U.S.C.), which gave the Secretary of Labor authority to establish total disability regulations for Part C cases, Congress provided that "[c]riteria applied by the Secretary of Labor ... shall not be more restrictive than the criteria applicable to a claim filed on June 30, 1973...." 30 U.S.C. § 902(f)(2). In response to the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act, the Secretary promulgated the interim regulations for Part C cases at issue here.2 See 20 C.F.R. § 727.203.
The petitioner in this case, Hubert C. Taylor, filed his claim for black lung benefits on June 6, 1977. The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs approved his claim on March 31, 1980. Respondent Peabody Coal Company, however, filed a notice of controversion and the matter was referred to the Office of Administrative Law Judges. On August 29, 1985, the ALJ issued his decision and order awarding benefits to Taylor.
In this decision and order, the ALJ examined Taylor's claim under both the Part C regulations and the Part B regulations. Examining Taylor's claim under the Part C regulations, the ALJ found that Taylor successfully had invoked the presumption under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(a), but that Peabody Coal successfully had rebutted the presumption under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(b)(2). Peabody Coal was able to rebut the presumption by presenting medical evidence that Taylor had only a mild pulmonary impairment which did not prohibit him from performing his work. Under the Part B regulations, however, the ALJ found that Taylor successfully had invoked the presumption, and that Peabody Coal had failed to rebut the presumption.
Peabody Coal appealed the ALJ's decision to the Benefits Review Board. The Benefits Review Board reversed the ALJ's decision, determining that Taylor's claim should be resolved exclusively under the Part C (Labor) rules. The Benefits Review Board determined that Halon v. Director, OWCP, 713 F.2d 21 (3d Cir.1983), a case in which the Third Circuit interpreted the "not ... more restrictive" language of 30 U.S.C. § 902(f)(2) as entitling a claimant to application of the Part B (HEW) rules in a claim disposed of by the Department of Labor, only applied to claims in the Third Circuit and in other circuits having adopted this standard.
Taylor appealed to this court. We affirmed the decision of the Benefits Review Board in our opinion in Taylor I. There, we determined that this case was controlled by our then-recent decision in Strike v. Director, OWCP, 817 F.2d 395 (7th Cir.1987). In Strike, we held that in enacting 30 U.S.C. § 902(f)(2), Congress only intended to prohibit the Secretary of Labor from applying more restrictive medical criteria in reviewing claims pursuant to 30 U.S.C. § 945. Thus, in Taylor I, we interpreted Strike as "reject[ing] the argument that Congress intended 20 C.F.R. § 410.490 [the Part B rules] to be applied to Part C claims when it 'liberalized' the Black Lung Benefits Act." Taylor I, 838 F.2d at 229.
Taylor filed a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court. This petition was held in abeyance because of the Supreme Court's pending decision in Pittston Coal Group. On December 6, 1988, the Supreme Court decided Pittston Coal Group