The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected Lodestar Energy's final appeal on November 12, 2026, solidifying benefits initially approved a decade earlier. The dispute hinged on five pulmonary function tests taken between 2015 and 2017, where earlier qualifying results were ultimately favored over two non-qualifying exams. Judges determined that later tests showing improved lung function ran contrary to the progressive nature of black lung disease. Consequently, the employer failed to rebut the legal presumption of Owens' total respiratory disability.
Key points
Employers cannot use later non-qualifying medical exams to overturn disability presumptio…: Employers cannot use later non-qualifying medical exams to overturn disability presumptions when test improvements contradict the progressive decline of black lung disease.
Surviving spouses are legally entitled to continue litigating contested disability awards…: Surviving spouses are legally entitled to continue litigating contested disability awards alongside separate claims for survivor benefits.
Decades of underground mining experience can trigger statutory presumptions of total disa…: Decades of underground mining experience can trigger statutory presumptions of total disability that require compelling employer evidence to successfully rebut.
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For coal miners, the years spent underground can have consequences that extend long after their last shift. The fight to have Kentucky miner John Owens recognized for his respiratory disability did not end with his death in 2017 after 26 years of underground work. His widow won another big legal victory nearly a decade later when a federal appeals court affirmed the benefits she was awarded under the Black Lung Benefits Act, rejecting challenges from his former employer and its insurance company.
Mining career, benefits fight span decades
Owens, born in 1951, had 26 years of coal-mining employment in Kentucky, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said. He applied for disability benefits on December 22, 2014 and the Department of Labor initially approved his application in September 2016.
His former employer, Lodestar Energy Inc., insured by Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance, contested the award and requested an administrative hearing. Owens died on September 15, 2017, before the dispute was settled. His widow, Bonnie Owens, then tracked the case as the claimant, filing her application for survivor benefits on…
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