Baughn v. Gorrell & Riley

The Workmens Compensation Board granted Luther Tibbs benefits for total disability resulting from silicosis which was contracted while working in the mine of Stephens Elkhorn Coal Company. The company seeks reversal of the judgment upholding the award on the ground that Tibbs failed to give it timely notice as required by KRS 342.316(2). Under this subsection an employe is required to give notice to his employer within a reasonable time after he has a disability from an occupational disease which impairs his capacity to perform his work and he knows (or should know by the exercise of reasonable care) that he has contracted the disease. Peabody Coal Co. v. Powell, Ky., 351 S.W.2d 172.