Background
Joshua Kessler, a coal miner employed by Marshall County Coal Resources, sustained a compensable work injury on February 22, 2024. Following the injury, he sought to have cervical disc displacement/C5-6 bulge and cervical strain added as compensable components of his claim. The claim administrator denied those additions in a November 1, 2024 order and separately closed the claim for temporary total disability (TTD) benefits in a September 9, 2024 order.
The West Virginia Board of Review modified and reversed those orders in May 2025. Applying the precedents established in Moore v. ICG Tygart Valley, LLC, Gill v. City of Charleston, and Blackhawk Mining, LLC v. Argabright—which govern situations where a claimant alleges that a work injury aggravated preexisting but asymptomatic degenerative conditions—the Board found that the cervical disc displacement and C5-6 bulge were not discrete new injuries causally related to the work event, but that cervical strain was. The Board reversed the TTD closure and remanded to the claim administrator to assess whether Kessler was entitled to additional TTD benefits in light of the newly recognized compensable component.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed the Board of Review’s decision in a December 4, 2025 memorandum decision. Marshall County Coal Resources then petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, arguing that the record lacked sufficient medical evidence to support a finding of cervical strain causally related to the compensable injury.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the ICA’s decision without oral argument pursuant to Rule 21 of the West Virginia Rules of Appellate Procedure. Applying its standard of de novo review for questions of law and deferential review for factual findings—upholding Board of Review findings unless clearly wrong—the court found no reversible error in the lower tribunals’ conclusions.
The court rejected the employer’s argument that medical records demonstrated no subjective complaints or objective findings consistent with cervical strain. Although the employer pointed to documentation showing that Kessler initially denied neck pain and that an April 29, 2024 MRI attributed his symptoms to degenerative changes, the Board’s weighing of the evidence as a whole supported a finding that cervical strain was causally connected to the February 2024 work injury. The Supreme Court declined to disturb that credibility and evidentiary determination.
Key Takeaways
- A claimant’s delayed reporting of neck symptoms does not automatically defeat a finding of cervical strain causally related to a compensable work injury where the Board of Review weighs the totality of the medical evidence.
- West Virginia’s deferential standard of appellate review for Board of Review factual findings is a significant hurdle for employers: findings will stand unless clearly wrong, arbitrary, or capricious.
- Under Moore, Gill, and Blackhawk Mining, preexisting degenerative conditions that were asymptomatic before a work injury may be distinguished from discrete new injuries; the Board here found cervical disc displacement/C5-6 bulge not compensable but cervical strain separately compensable.
- Closure of TTD benefits was reversed and the claim remanded for further proceedings on whether Kessler is entitled to additional TTD benefits given the added compensable component.
Why It Matters
This decision reinforces the breadth of deference West Virginia appellate courts give to Board of Review factual determinations in workers’ compensation cases. Employers seeking to overturn benefit awards on appeal face a high bar, particularly where the Board has conducted a detailed weighing of competing medical evidence involving both acute injuries and preexisting degenerative conditions.
The case also illustrates the practical significance of the Moore/Gill/Blackhawk Mining framework: even when discrete structural findings (here, disc displacement and bulge) are excluded as non-compensable preexisting conditions, a related soft-tissue diagnosis like cervical strain may still be added to a claim if the preponderance of evidence supports causation. Defense counsel should anticipate that courts will scrutinize the full medical record rather than rely on isolated physician notations or a single MRI report.