Case Name: John W. YOUNG, Commissioner of Labor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Custodian of the Special Fund, and B. & S. Coal Company, Appellants, v. Osle BURGETT and Workmen's Compensation Board of Kentucky, Appellees
Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Decision Date: 1972-06-09
Citations: 483 S.W.2d 450
Docket Number: 
Parties: John W. YOUNG, Commissioner of Labor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Custodian of the Special Fund, and B. & S. Coal Company, Appellants, v. Osle BURGETT and Workmen’s Compensation Board of Kentucky, Appellees.
Judges: All concur.
Reporter: South Western Reporter Second Series
Volume: 483
Pages: 450–451

Head Matter:
John W. YOUNG, Commissioner of Labor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Custodian of the Special Fund, and B. & S. Coal Company, Appellants, v. Osle BURGETT and Workmen’s Compensation Board of Kentucky, Appellees.
Court of Appeals of Kentucky.
June 9, 1972.
Gemma M. Harding, Dept, of Labor, Louisville, William A. Rice, Harlan, for appellants.
W. M. Melton, Hazard, for appellees.

Opinion:
OSBORNE, Judge.
This is a Workmen's Compensation proceeding wherein the Board denied recovery to the claimant who claimed to be suffering from miner's pneumoconiosis. Claimant appealed to the Perry Circuit Court which reversed the Board. We reverse the judgment of that court.
The issue before the Board was whether or not claimant was suffering from pneumoconiosis. In all, seven doctors testified, three for the claimant and four for the appellants. There was a direct conflict in their testimony. We have held many times that the claimant must carry the burden of persuasion in these proceedings. And, where the Board has found against the party having the burden, the test is whether the evidence for the claimant was so persuasive as to require a finding in his favor. See Porter v. Goad, Ky., 404 S.W.2d 795. Where medical testimony is concerned, and that testimony is conflicting, the question of who to believe is one exclusively for the Board. Dave Hall v. Island Creek Coal Company, Ky., 474 S.W.2d 890, decided November 19, 1971.
Judgment reversed.
All concur.