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 October 30, 2017.The miner’s claim for disability benefits and his widow’s claim for survivor benefits were both part of the consolidated proceedings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said.
Medical evidence becomes key to the dispute
The case largely hinged on pulmonary function tests measuring Owens’s breathing capacity. An administrative law judge denied the claim for benefits in May 2022, finding the evidence did not show total respiratory disability.The judge looked at five pulmonary function tests, including tests from 2015, 2016 and 2017. Three earlier tests produced qualifying measurements. Two later tests failed to establish disability under applicable standards.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said the original decision gave too much weight to the newer test results and didn’t sufficiently reconcile them with the earlier qualifying findings.The Benefits Review Board vacated part of that decision in August 2023 and remanded the matter for reconsideration. It ordered the administrative law judge to re-evaluate the medical evidence and to reconsider the assessment of a medical expert from the Department of Labor.
Widow wins benefits on reconsideration
In a July 2024 decision on remand, the administrative law judge reversed the prior decision. The judge concluded that the three valid, qualifying pre-bronchodilator tests carried more weight in the aggregate than the two subsequent tests.The opinion of the medical expert was also considered and given some evidentiary weight because it was consistent with the overall pulmonary function findings.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Owens eligible for the statutory presumption of total disability based on his extensive underground mining experience and his documented respiratory impairment. The employer did not rebut that presumption. In September 2025, the Benefits Review Board upheld the revised award.
Court of Appeals rejects employer challenge
Lodestar and its insurer then appealed to the federal appeals court to reverse the decision, arguing the administrative process improperly limited the consideration of the chronological order of the medical tests.But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected those arguments in a Nov. 12, 2026 ruling. The court could not determine if the new test results were more accurate because they showed an apparent improvement that was inconsistent with black lung disease progression. It was especially true when an improvement was shown.Images Courtesy: istock