## Facts

- Charles B. Killingsworth worked in coal mining for about 39 years (approximately 35 years underground and 4 years on the surface as a shop electrician).
- He voluntarily retired in 1978 at age 62 and filed a federal claim for black lung benefits, alleging total disability from pneumoconiosis caused by coal mine employment.
- The Department of Labor initially approved benefits and designated Alabama By-Products Corporation (ABC) as the responsible operator; ABC contested.
- At an ALJ hearing, Killingsworth testified he retired due to shortness of breath and also had knee problems.
- Medical evidence included: (a) an opinion by Dr. A. David Russakoff reporting minimal radiographic evidence of pneumoconiosis, normal ventilatory testing, and no significant functional impairment; and (b) other medical testing and readings supporting pneumoconiosis and respiratory impairment.
- The ALJ found the interim presumption of total disability due to pneumoconiosis invoked under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(a) and found ABC did not rebut under § 727.203(b); benefits were awarded.
- The Benefits Review Board affirmed; ABC petitioned for review in the Eleventh Circuit.

## Issues

1. Whether the ALJ properly invoked the interim presumption of total disability due to pneumoconiosis under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(a).
2. Whether, under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(b), the interim presumption is rebutted merely by producing some contrary medical evidence or instead requires the employer to prove a specified rebuttal ground.
3. Whether substantial evidence supported the ALJ’s findings rejecting rebuttal under § 727.203(b), including the weighing of conflicting medical evidence.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the Benefits Review Board and upheld the award of benefits.
- The court held substantial evidence supported the ALJ’s invocation of the interim presumption under § 727.203(a).
- The court rejected ABC’s argument that the presumption disappears as a matter of law upon introduction of some contrary evidence.
- The court held the employer must affirmatively establish one of the rebuttal conditions in § 727.203(b), and the ALJ’s finding that ABC failed to do so was supported by substantial evidence.
- The court deferred to the ALJ’s role in resolving conflicts in medical evidence and assessing credibility.

## Legal Principles

- Under 20 C.F.R. § 727.203(a), a miner with at least ten years of coal mine employment who presents qualifying medical evidence is entitled to an interim presumption of total disability due to pneumoconiosis.
- Rebuttal under § 727.203(b) requires the employer to prove one of the enumerated rebuttal grounds (including ability to perform usual or comparable work, lack of causal connection, or absence of pneumoconiosis); producing some contrary evidence does not, by itself, defeat the presumption.
- The presumption operates to place on the employer the risk of nonpersuasion on rebuttal; the ALJ must weigh all evidence rather than treat the presumption as extinguished by the mere presence of opposing proof.
- Appellate review is limited: the court examines whether the ALJ’s findings are supported by substantial evidence and are consistent with law, and it does not reweigh conflicting medical opinions.

## Conclusion

The Eleventh Circuit upheld black lung benefits where the ALJ permissibly invoked the interim presumption and found the employer did not prove any regulatory rebuttal ground; contrary medical evidence did not compel rebuttal, and substantial-evidence review required deference to the ALJ’s weighing of the record.


Alabama By-Prods. Corp. v. Killingsworth, 733 F.2d 1511 (11th Cir. 1984)