Court Opinion

ID: 9840015
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-14 21:11:49.375967+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:42:56.815212
License: Public Domain

FILED
                                                                        September 14, 2023
                                                                          EDYTHE NASH GAISER, CLERK
                                                                          SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
                                                                              OF WEST VIRGINIA
                            STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
                          SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS

Eva Nell Spears, widow of
Denvil Spears,
Claimant Below, Petitioner

vs.)   No. 21-0824     (BOR Appeal No. 2056550)
                       (Claim No. 2017026107)

West Virginia Office of
Insurance Commissioner,
Commissioner Below, Respondent

and

Vision Coal Co.,
Employer Below, Respondent

                             MEMORANDUM DECISION

        Petitioner Eva Nell Spears, widow of Denvil Spears appeals the decision of the West
Virginia Workers’ Compensation Board of Review (“Board of Review”). The West Virginia
Office of Insurance Commissioner filed a timely response. 1 The issue on appeal is dependent’s
benefits. The claims administrator denied the claim on January 18, 2018. The Workers’
Compensation Office of Judges (“Office of Judges”) affirmed the decision in its March 25, 2021,
Order. The Order was affirmed by the Board of Review on September 20, 2021. Upon our review,
we determine that oral argument is unnecessary and that a memorandum decision affirming the
Board of Review’s decision is appropriate. See W. Va. R. App. P. 21.

       Mr. Spears, a coal miner, was examined by the Occupational Pneumoconiosis Board (“OP
Board”) on January 28, 1984. The OP Board found that the claimant had 20% impairment due to
occupational pneumoconiosis and that he had nineteen years of occupational dust exposure. Mr.
Spears was granted a 20% permanent partial disability award for occupational pneumoconiosis on
February 7, 1986.

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        Petitioner, Eva Nell Spears, widow of Denvil Spears, is represented by Reginald D. Henry,
and respondent, West Virginia Office of Insurance Commissioner, is represented by Timothy E.
Huffman and Ann B. Rembrandt.
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        On October 15, 2015, Mr. Spears was transported to Beckley Area Regional Hospital
emergency department after falling off of his mower. He was discovered an hour after he fell and
had injuries to his right hip and leg. The claimant’s oxygen was 80% but he was not in acute
respiratory distress. He was admitted for treatment of right hip fracture. On October 17, 2015, the
claimant was in the middle of a cardiology workup when he went into respiratory arrest. He was
intubated and transferred to the ICU where he passed away. An autopsy was not performed.

       Mrs. Spears completed an application for fatal dependent’s benefits asserting that her
husband died, and occupational pneumoconiosis was a material, contributing factor. The OP Board
reviewed the claimant’s medical records and concluded on November 28, 2017, that occupational
pneumoconiosis was not a material, contributing factor in Mr. Spears’s death. It noted that a CT
scan showed evidence of emphysema, most severe in the upper lung zones, and insufficient
evidence of pulmonary parenchymal or pleural disease to establish a diagnosis of occupational
pneumoconiosis. The claims administrator rejected Mrs. Spears’s claim for dependent’s benefits
on January 18, 2018.

        Before the Office of Judges on January 20, 2021, John Willis, M.D., testified on behalf of
the OP Board that he reviewed chest x-rays spanning from 2003 to June of 2015, as well as a
September 12, 2014, CT scan. He opined that the films showed fairly severe emphysema and that
the pathology was mainly the result of cigarette smoking. He further stated that CT scans are more
sensitive than x-rays. Jack Kinder, M.D., an OP Board member, concurred with Dr. Willis’s
findings. He testified that the death certificate listed the immediate cause of death as respiratory
failure due to atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease. Dr. Kinder noted that Mr. Spears was
eighty-one at the time of his death and most likely died as a result of a cardiac or cardiovascular
event, like a stroke or heart attack. He stated that Mr. Spears had a stroke three to four months
prior to his death and had a smoking history of a pack a day for thirty years, ceasing in 1994. Dr.
Kinder opined that he did not have severe respiratory disease and that his death was the result of
several factors including respiratory compromise and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Kinder asserted
that Mr. Spears’s broken hip led to his death because it caused stress on his heart and respiratory
system. Dr. Kinder opined that while Mr. Spears’s compromised respiratory condition caused
issues for him, it was not a material, contributing factor in his death. Dr. Kinder stated that the
most recent CT scans and x-rays were not sufficient to make a diagnosis of occupational
pneumoconiosis. He also stated that the imaging showed bullae, which is associated with tobacco
smoking. Further, Mr. Spears suffered repeated infections, which can scar the lungs. John Henry,
M.D., also of the OP Board, concurred with the testimony of Drs. Willis and Kinder.

       The Office of Judges affirmed the claims administrator’s rejection of Mrs. Spears’s
application for dependent’s benefits. It found that she failed to show that the findings and
conclusions of the OP Board were clearly wrong. The Office of Judges determined that the OP
Board’s decision was supported by the evidence of record. The Board of Review adopted the
findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Office of Judges and affirmed its order on September
20, 2021.

       This Court may not reweigh the evidentiary record, but must give deference to the findings,
reasoning, and conclusions of the Board of Review, and when the Board’s decision affirms prior
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rulings by both the Workers’ Compensation Commission and the Office of Judges, we may reverse
or modify that decision only if it is in clear violation of constitutional or statutory provisions, is
clearly the result of erroneous conclusions of law, or is based upon a material misstatement or
mischaracterization of the evidentiary record. See W. Va. Code § 23-5-15(c) & (d). We apply a de
novo standard of review to questions of law. See Justice v. W. Va. Off. of Ins. Comm’n, 230 W. Va.
80, 83, 736 S.E.2d 80, 83 (2012).

        After review, we find no error with the reasoning and conclusions of the Office of Judges
as affirmed by the Board of Review. The standard for granting dependent’s benefits is not whether
the employee’s death was the result of the occupational disease exclusively, but whether the
occupational disease contributed in any material degree to the death. See Bradford v. Workers’
Comp. Comm’r, 185 W. Va. 434, 408 S.E.2d 13 (1991). Further, West Virginia Code § 23-4-6a
provides that the Office of Judges “shall affirm the decision of the occupational pneumoconiosis
board made following [the] hearing unless the decision is clearly wrong in view of the reliable,
probative and substantial evidence on the whole record.”

        In this case, members of the OP Board testified that though the claimant had some
respiratory issues, occupational pneumoconiosis was not a material, contributing factor in his
death. The most recent x-rays were not positive for occupational pneumoconiosis but did show
emphysema. Dr. Kinder testified that the claimant’s broken hip stressed his heart and lungs and
ultimately led to his death via a cardiac or cardiovascular event. For those reasons, Mrs. Spears
has not shown that the OP Board’s opinion is clearly wrong, and we affirm the decision of the
Board of Review.

                                                                                           Affirmed.
ISSUED: September 14, 2023

CONCURRED IN BY:
Chief Justice Elizabeth D. Walker
Justice Tim Armstead
Justice John A. Hutchison
Justice William R. Wooton
Justice C. Haley Bunn

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