Scott v. Aep Kentucky Coals, LLC

196 S.W.3d 24, 2006 Ky. App. LEXIS 189, 2006 WL 1791566
Court of Appeals of Kentucky·Decided June 30, 2006·No. No. 2005-CA-002486-WC·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

OPINION

McANULTY, Judge.

Franklin Scott appeals from an opinion of the Workers’ Compensation Board. The Board held that Scott could not receive additional benefits upon reopening his claim for worsening of pneumoconiosis because he had no additional exposure to coal dust since filing an earlier petition to reopen. Scott argues on appeal that the statutes on which the Board based its opinion are unconstitutional because they fail to provide due process and equal protection of the laws, and that they were applied too narrowly to the circumstances of his case. In addition, Scott argues that the Board ignored his argument that reopening his claim was valid based on a “mistake” in the earlier adjudication. We affirm.

The Board denied Scott’s claim based on the fact that Scott had not had additional exposure to the hazards of the disease since the date of the previous award or order. The Board cited the reopening statute, KRS 342.125(5)(a), which allows an administrative law judge (ALJ) to review an order or award for benefits attributable to coal-related pneumoconiosis where the affected employee shows both progression of a previously diagnosed pneumoconiosis and “two (2) additional years of employment in the Commonwealth wherein the employee was continuously exposed to the [26] hazards of the disease[.]” The Board also relied on KRS 342.316(12), which states in full:

A concluded claim for benefits by reason of contraction of coal workers’ pneumo-coniosis in the severance or processing of coal shall bar any subsequent claim for benefits by reason of contraction of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, unless there has occurred in the interim between the conclusion of the first claim and the filing of the second claim at least two (2) years of employment wherein the employee was continuously exposed to the hazards of the disease in the Commonwealth.

Scott’s last exposure to coal dust was August 31, 2002. Since there had not been any more exposure since the denial of his earlier petition for reconsideration on March 23, 2004, the Board found that additional benefits were barred by the statute’s employment requirements. Scott alleges that the Board erred in applying the statutes.

Scott argues that the statutes are unconstitutional in that they require that a worker perform two years of additional work before an occupational disease award may be reopened, but there is no such requirement for a reopening of an injury award in the Workers’ Compensation Act. Scott alleges that this violates his rights to equal protection, since similarly situated groups should be treated equally, and due process, because it precludes the meaningful opportunity to present evidence for those with an occupational disease. In addition, Scott contends that the statute violates Section 2 of the Kentucky Constitution because its requirements are arbitrary.

The Kentucky Supreme Court explained the role of this Court in reviewing decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Board in Western Baptist Hosp. v. Kelly, 827 S.W.2d 685, 687-88 (Ky.1992). The Supreme Court stated that our function is to correct the Board only where this Court perceives the Board has overlooked or misconstrued controlling statutes or precedent, or committed an error in assessing the evidence so flagrant as to cause gross injustice. Id. at 687-688. Thereafter, the function of the Supreme Court in reviewing a workers’ compensation case previously reviewed by this Court is to address new or novel questions of statutory construction, to reconsider precedent when necessary, or to review a question of constitutional magnitude. Id. at 688. While we believe we may examine Scott’s constitutional claims, we note that they are ultimately subject to review by the Supreme Court.

Appellee AEP Kentucky Coals asserts initially that Scott failed to preserve his claims of error. Scott does raise the challenges to the statutes for the first time in this appeal; thus, those arguments were not argued before the ALJ or the Board. We believe, nevertheless, that they have been sufficiently preserved for review in this Court. The Workers’ Compensation Board is not empowered to address constitutional questions because its review is limited by statute. See KRS 342.285(2). Exhaustion of administrative remedies is not necessary when attacking the constitutionality of a statute as void on its face. Commonwealth v. DLX, Inc., 42 S.W.3d 624, 626 (Ky.2001), citing Goodwin v. City of Louisville, 309 Ky. 11, 215 S.W.2d 557, 559 (1948). This is because administrative agencies cannot decide constitutional issues. Id. As a result, we do not believe Scott’s constitutional argument should be barred because it was not made before the Board. Furthermore, Scott notified the Attorney General of the challenge to the constitutionality of a statute by serving a copy of the brief, as KRS 418.075 requires. See Homestead Nursing [27] Home v. Parker, 86 S.W.3d 424, 426 n. 1 (Ky.App.1999). Accordingly, we find no error as to preservation.

First, we examine whether the statutes violate equal protection considerations. The difference in issues arising as to onset, causation and progression of occupational disease claims versus other types of injury claims provides a rational basis for the differing requirements for the reopening of pneumoconiosis claims as opposed to injury claims in the Workers’ Compensation Act. Thus, we conclude that the legislature is justified in placing different requirements on the claims when it comes to reopening.

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Scott v. Aep Kentucky Coals, LLC, 196 S.W.3d 24, 2006 Ky. App. LEXIS 189, 2006 WL 1791566 (Ky. Ct. App. 2006).

196 S.W.3d 24 (Scott v. Aep Kentucky Coals, LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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