Court Opinion

ID: 993313
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 00:05:54.024756+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:11:47.167577
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

BUFFALO MINING COMPANY,
Petitioner,

v.

HOBERT DILLON; DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF
                                                                    No. 96-2034
WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS,
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR,
Respondents.

On Petition for Review of an Order
of the Benefits Review Board.
(95-1719-BLA)

Argued: July 7, 1997

Decided: October 21, 1997

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, and WILKINS and
HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Sannie Overly, JACKSON & KELLY, Lexington, Ken-
tucky, for Petitioner. Kelly Rosetta Charnock, SHAFFER & SHAF-
FER, Charleston, West Virginia, for Respondent Dillon; Barry H.
Joyner, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washing-
ton, D.C., for Respondent Director. ON BRIEF: Anthony J. Cicconi,
SHAFFER & SHAFFER, Charleston, West Virginia, for Respondent
Dillon. J. Davitt McAteer, Acting Solicitor of Labor, Donald S. Shire,
Associate Solicitor, Christian P. Barber, Counsel for Appellate Litiga-
tion, Edward Waldman, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR, Washington, D.C., for Respondent Director.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Buffalo Mining Company (Buffalo) petitions for review of a deci-
sion by the Benefits Review Board (the Board) affirming an award of
black lung benefits to Hobert Dillon. Finding no error, we affirm.

Dillon applied for black lung benefits in 1991, after working for
Buffalo for at least ten years. An administrative law judge (ALJ)
awarded benefits, ruling that Dillon suffered from pneumoconiosis
arising from his coal mine employment and that he was totally dis-
abled due to the disease. The Board affirmed the ALJ's finding of
total disability, but concluded that she had improperly relied on the
"true doubt" rule in determining that Dillon suffered from pneumoco-
niosis. See Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs,
Dep't of Labor v. Greenwich Collieries, 512 U.S. 267, 281 (1994)
(holding that the true doubt rule violates the Administrative Procedure
Act). Accordingly, the Board vacated this finding and the finding that
Dillon's total disability was due to pneumoconiosis and remanded for
reconsideration. On remand, the ALJ again awarded benefits, con-
cluding that Dillon had established the existence of pneumoconiosis
by a preponderance of the evidence and that he was totally disabled
due to pneumoconiosis. The Board affirmed.

Having had the benefit of oral argument and the parties' briefs, and
after careful consideration of the record, we conclude that the deci-

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sion of the ALJ is supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, we
affirm.

AFFIRMED

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