DENNIS LEFAN and DICK ADAMS v. GENERAL ELECTRIC; SPECIAL FUND; HONORABLE SHEILA C. LOWTHER, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE; and WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD

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RENDERED: November 25, 1998; 2:00 p.m. NOT TO BE PUBLISHED C ommonwealth O f K entucky C ourt O f A ppeals No. 1998-CA-000042-WC DENNIS LEFAN and DICK ADAMS v. APPELLANTS PETITION FOR REVIEW OF A DECISION OF THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD FILE NO. WC-96-000999 GENERAL ELECTRIC; SPECIAL FUND; HONORABLE SHEILA C. LOWTHER, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE; and WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD APPELLEES OPINION AFFIRMING ** ** ** ** ** BEFORE: GUDGEL, Chief Judge; DYCHE and KNOX, Judges. DYCHE, JUDGE. Dennis Lefan, the claimant, and his attorney Dick Adams appeal from an opinion of the Workers’ Compensation Board affirming an order of the Administrative Law Judge denying their request for an attorney fee for Adams to be paid by the employer, General Electric. We affirm. Adams filed this action on Lefan’s behalf seeking income benefits and medical payments as a result of an allegedly work-related hearing loss. As the proof developed in the case, it became apparent that there was no valid claim for income benefits, so the action proceeded on the claim for medical benefits alone. General Electric contested the work-relatedness of claimant’s hearing loss, but that issue was resolved against the employer, and the Administrative Law Judge entered an award providing for the payment of medical benefits “as may reasonably be required at the time of the injury and thereafter during disability.” A subsequent motion seeking a fee for Adams to be paid by General Electric was denied. General Electric took no further appeal, but Lefan and Adams sought review by the Workers’ Compensation Board, which found no statutory basis for the award in such circumstances. This appeal followed. While KRS 342.320 authorizes a fee to the worker’s attorney for successfully prosecuting a claim for income benefits or a reopening, it is silent regarding other instances in which a worker may be required to employ an attorney to protect his interests, for example: for prosecuting a claim for medical expenses where the worker seeks no award of temporary or permanent occupational disability benefits . . . . Peabody Coal Co. V. Goforth, Ky., 857 S.W.2d 167, 169 (1993). This being so, we will not be so presumptuous as to exercise the legislative function of establishing such a provision. opinion of the Workers’ Compensation Board is affirmed. GUDGEL, CHIEF JUDGE, CONCURS. KNOX, JUDGE, CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY. -2- The BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS DENNIS LEFAN AND DICK ADAMS: BRIEF FOR APPELLEE GENERAL ELECTRIC: Dick Adams Madisonville, Kentucky Jeff V. Layson III Bowling Green, Kentucky BRIEF FOR APPELLEE SPECIAL FUND: David W. Barr Louisville, Kentucky -3-

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