Island Creek Coal v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs - Black Lung Benefits

4th Circuit Daily Opinions

Filed March 26th, 2026

Detected March 27th, 2026

Summary

The Fourth Circuit denied a petition for review filed by Island Creek Coal Company and CONSOL Energy, Inc. The petition sought to overturn a Benefits Review Board decision affirming an award of black lung benefits to a retired coal miner. The court found the award to be legally sound and supported by substantial evidence.

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What changed

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition for review filed by Island Creek Coal Company and CONSOL Energy, Inc. The petitioners challenged a 2023 decision by the Benefits Review Board (BRB), which affirmed an Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ) award of black lung benefits to Robert E. Frazier, a retired coal miner. Island Creek argued that Frazier's claim was untimely and that he was not totally disabled by pneumoconiosis. The court reviewed the ALJ's findings of fact for substantial evidence and the BRB's and ALJ's legal conclusions de novo, ultimately finding the award to be legally sound and well-supported.

This denial means the black lung benefits award to Mr. Frazier stands. While this specific case is an unpublished opinion and thus not binding precedent, it reinforces the standard of review for black lung benefit claims in the Fourth Circuit. Employers in the coal industry should be aware that challenges to ALJ and BRB decisions regarding timeliness and disability must meet a high bar for substantial evidence and correct legal interpretation. No further action is required by regulated entities based on this specific denial, but it serves as a reminder of the ongoing legal landscape for black lung benefit claims.

Source document (simplified)

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-1056

ISLAND CREEK COAL COMPANY; CONSOL ENERGY, INCORPORATED, Petitioners, v. DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION PROGRAMS,

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; ROBERT E. FRAZIER,

Respondents.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Benefits Review Board. (2019-06074-BLA,

2021-0505-BLA)

Argued: March 18, 2026 Decided: March 26, 2026

Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and KING, Circuit Judges.

Petition for review denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ARGUED: William Steele Mattingly, JACKSON KELLY PLLC, Lexington, Kentucky,

for Petitioners. Amanda Torres, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washington, D.C.; Samuel Brown Petsonk, PETSONK PLLC, Oak Hill, West Virginia, for Respondents. ON BRIEF: Mary L. Bryson, JACKSON KELLY PLLC, Lexington, Kentucky, for Petitioners. Bren J. Pomponio, Laura Davidson, MOUNTAIN STATE JUSTICE, Charleston, West Virginia, for Respondent Robert E. Frazier. Seema Nanda, Solicitor of Labor, Barry H. Joyner, Associate Solicitor, Jennifer Feldman Jones, Deputy Associate Solicitor, Sean Bajkowski, Office of the Solicitor, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washington, D.C., for Federal Respondent.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM: Island Creek Coal Company and CONSOL Energy, Inc. (collectively, “Island Creek”) petition this Court for review of a 2023 decision of the Benefits Review Board (the “BRB”). That decision affirmed a 2021 award by an Administrative Law Judge (the “ALJ”) of black lung benefits to 95-year-old retired West Virginia coal miner Robert E. Frazier, pursuant to the Black Lung Benefits Act of 1977. Mr. Frazier began mining coal in the Mountain State in 1952, and he retired from that noble occupation in 1988. During his decades-long coal mining career in southern West Virginia, Mr. Frazier worked solely for Island Creek. Now, in these administrative proceedings, Island Creek maintains that Mr. Frazier’s 2017 claim for benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act is untimely, and that he is not entitled to benefits because he is not “totally disabled” by pneumoconiosis. We review an order of the BRB by “undertak[ing] an independent review of the record” to determine if the ALJ’s findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence.

See Dehue Coal Co. v. Ballard, 65 F.3d 1189, 1193 (4th Cir. 1995); Island Creek Coal Co.

Compton, 211 F.3d 203, 207 (4th Cir. 2000). To that end, “[s]ubstantial evidence is more than a mere scintilla” — rather, it is characterized as “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” See Consolidated

Edison Co. of New York v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229 (1938). Furthermore, we review de

novo the legal conclusions of the BRB and the ALJ. See Dehue Coal Co., 65 F.3d at 1193. In these circumstances, having carefully assessed the relevant administrative record — along with the appellate submissions of the parties and the argument of the able lawyers presented in Richmond — we are satisfied to deny Island Creek’s petition for review. Put 2

simply, we are of opinion that the BRB correctly affirmed the ALJ’s legally-sound and well-supported award of black lung benefits to Mr. Frazier.