Court Opinion

ID: 9939367
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 21:00:40.103943+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:41:14.459523
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-2100      Doc: 30         Filed: 02/08/2024    Pg: 1 of 4

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 22-2100

        WINDSOR COAL COMPANY; EAST COAST RISK MANAGEMENT, LLC,

                            Petitioners,

                     v.

        DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION PROGRAMS,
        UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; WAYNE G. PORTER,

                            Respondents.

        On Petition for Review of an Order of the Benefits Review Board. (21-0487-BLA)

        Submitted: January 30, 2024                                       Decided: February 8, 2024

        Before NIEMEYER and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit
        Judge.

        Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF: Toni J. Williams, SUTTERWILLIAMS, LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for
        Petitioners. Timothy C. MacDonnell, Lexi Weber, Student Caseworker, Advanced
        Administrative Litigation Clinic, WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
        OF LAW, Lexington, Virginia, for Respondent.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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        PER CURIAM:

               Windsor Coal Company (“Employer”) petitions this court for review of the Benefits

        Review Board’s (BRB) decision affirming the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) award

        of benefits to Wayne G. Porter (“Claimant”) under the Black Lung Benefits Act (the

        “Act”), 30 U.S.C. §§ 901-944.       Employer argues that the ALJ erroneously credited

        Claimant’s medical experts and evidence and discredited Employer’s medical experts in

        finding that Claimant established that he was totally disabled and in concluding that

        Employer failed to rebut the presumption that Claimant’s total disability was due to

        pneumoconiosis. We deny the petition for review.

               Our review of a decision awarding black lung benefits is deferential, considering

        “only whether substantial evidence supports the factual findings of the ALJ and whether

        the [ALJ’s and the BRB’s] legal conclusions . . . are rational and consistent with applicable

        law.” Hobet Mining, LLC v. Epling, 783 F.3d 498, 504 (4th Cir. 2015) (internal quotation

        marks omitted). “To determine whether this standard has been met, we consider whether

        all of the relevant evidence has been analyzed and whether the ALJ has sufficiently

        explained [her] rationale in crediting certain evidence.” Id. (internal quotation marks

        omitted). However, “it is for the ALJ, as the trier of fact, to make factual and credibility

        determinations, and we therefore defer to the ALJ’s evaluation of the proper weight to

        accord conflicting medical opinions.” Id. (cleaned up). “So long as an ALJ’s findings in

        this regard are supported by substantial evidence, they must be sustained.” Id. If an ALJ

        errs by failing to consider relevant evidence or failing to adequately explain her weighing

        of the evidence, any error that did not affect the outcome of the proceeding is harmless and

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        does not require remand. Sea “B” Mining Co. v. Addison, 831 F.3d 244, 253 (4th Cir.

        2016) (“Administrative adjudications are subject to the same harmless error rule that

        generally applies to civil cases.”).

               Employer first argues that the ALJ erred in her consideration of the arterial blood

        gas (“ABG”) studies. We conclude that the ALJ’s findings are supported by substantial

        evidence. Although the ALJ erroneously stated in her opinion that the most recent resting

        ABG was qualifying, she recognized twice elsewhere in the opinion that the most recent

        ABG study did not yield a qualifying resting value. The ALJ also properly explained that

        she emphasized exercise ABG values over resting values because coal mine employment

        requires physical exertion.

               Employer next argues that neither Dr. Go nor Dr. Sood considered all the objective

        medical evidence and that therefore the ALJ erred in crediting their opinions on disability.

        Employer also contends that the ALJ erred in discrediting the opinions of Drs. Werntz,

        Basheda, and Rosenberg on the issues of both disability and whether they rebutted the

        presumption that Claimant’s total disability was due to pneumoconiosis.           However,

        Employer’s arguments largely amount to a disagreement with the ALJ’s weighing of the

        evidence—a decision we leave to the ALJ. See Addison, 831 F.3d at 252; Hobet Mining,

        LLC, 783 F.3d at 504. We have reviewed the ALJ’s decision and the medical records and

        conclude that the ALJ permissibly credited the opinions of Go and Sood over those of

        Werntz, Basheda, and Rosenberg.

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               Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. We dispense with oral argument

        because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this

        court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                               PETITION DENIED

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