Jeffrey Hayes sought black lung benefits for his deceased father Ermine Hayes, who worked for Cowin & Company from 1955 to 1986 constructing mine shafts and was regularly "covered with coal dust." To qualify for a presumption of disabling pneumoconiosis under the Black Lung Benefits Act, claimants must prove 15 years of coal mine employment, which triggered a dispute over how to calculate a "year" under federal regulations.
Chief Judge William Pryor wrote that the plain text of 20 C.F.R. § 725.101(a)(32)(i) "unambiguously provides that if a coal miner worked in coal mine employment for 125 days during a 365/366-day period, he worked one year under the Act." The court rejected the Director of Workers' Compensation's argument that miners must prove both a full calendar year of employment and 125 working days within that period, finding such an interpretation would "read[] into section 725.101(a)(32)(i) a new phrase."
The case went through multiple appeals after an administrative law judge initially granted benefits, then the Benefits Review Board vacated and remanded twice. On the final remand, a new administrative law judge applied the Board's two-step interpretation and found Hayes's father worked only 13.76 years in coal mines—short of the 15-year threshold—and denied benefits.
The decision aligns the Eleventh Circuit with the Sixth Circuit's interpretation in Shepherd v. Incoal, Inc., creating a more favorable standard for black lung claimants. The case returns to the Benefits Review Board for recalculation of Ermine Hayes's coal mine employment under the court's interpretation, potentially qualifying him for the statutory presumption of disabling pneumoconiosis.