Lloyd Johnson v. Kanawha Stone Company, Inc. and WVOIC ( 2024 )

FILED
October 30, 2024
C. CASEY FORBES, CLERK
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
OF WEST VIRGINIA
SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
Lloyd Johnson,
Claimant Below, Petitioner
v.) No. 23-460 (JCN: 2005041660)
(ICA No. 22-ICA-18)
Kanawha Stone Company, Inc.;
Employer Below, Respondent; and
West Virginia Office of the Insurance
Commissioner, in its capacity as the
administrator of the Old Fund,
Respondent
MEMORANDUM DECISION
Petitioner Lloyd Johnson appeals the June 15, 2023, memorandum decision of the
Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia (“ICA”). See Johnson v. Kanawha Stone Co., Inc.,
No. 23-ICA-18, 2023 WL 4027444 (W. Va. Ct. App. Jun. 15, 2023) (memorandum decision).
Respondent West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner (“WVOIC”), in its capacity as
the administrator of the Old Fund, filed a timely response.1 The issue on appeal is whether the ICA
erred in affirming the December 19, 2022, decision of the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Board of Review, which affirmed the claim administrator’s July 11, 2022, order denying the
claimant’s request for an independent medical evaluation (“IME”).
The claimant asserts that he should be scheduled for an IME to generally determine his
medical and disability statuses. WVOIC counters by arguing that the claimant is not yet due for an
IME because he is not at maximum medical improvement. WVOIC further maintains that the
claimant points to no erroneous procedure, no arbitrary or capricious conclusions, and no abuse of
discretion or jurisdictional error by the tribunals below.
This Court reviews questions of law de novo, while we accord deference to the Board of
Review’s findings of fact unless the findings are clearly wrong. Syl. Pt. 3, Duff v. Kanawha Cnty.
Comm’n, --- W. Va. ---, 905 S.E.2d 528 (2024). Upon consideration of the record and briefs, we
find no reversible error and therefore summarily affirm. See W. Va. R. App. P. 21(c).
1
The claimant is represented by counsel M. Jane Glauser, and WVOIC is represented by
counsel Steven K. Wellman and James W. Heslep.
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Affirmed.
ISSUED: October 30, 2024
CONCURRED IN BY:
Chief Justice Tim Armstead
Justice Elizabeth D. Walker
Justice John A. Hutchison
Justice William R. Wooton
Justice C. Haley Bunn
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