Ballou v. Enterprise Mining Co., LLC

Ray Ballou worked as an underground coal miner from 1982 until 2012 and was sixty-nine years old when last exposed to coal dust. An administrative law judge (ALJ) awarded Ballou retraining incentive benefits (RIB), finding that Ballou had category 1/1 coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. Due to Ballou’s advanced age, however, the ALJ determined that Ballou could only receive those benefits if he participated in an approved retraining or educational program. Ballou challenged the constitutionality of the RIB statute’s age classifications. The court of appeals concluded that those age classifications are constitutional. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the age classifications at issue did not violate Balou’s right to equal protection.