WEST virginia legislature
2016 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 61
By Senator Yost
[Introduced January 13, 2016;
Referred to the Committee on Banking and Insurance; then to the Committee on
the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §23-4-1g of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the liberal weighing of evidence during any part of workers’ compensation claim.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §23-4-1g of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. DISABILITY AND DEATH BENEFITS.
§23-4-1g. Weighing of evidence.
(a) For all awards made
on or after the effective date of the amendment and reenactment of this section
during the year 2003, resolution of any issue raised in administering this
chapter shall be based on a weighing of all evidence pertaining to the issue
and a finding that a preponderance of the evidence supports the chosen manner
of resolution. The process of weighing evidence shall include, but not be
limited to, an assessment of the relevance, credibility, materiality and
reliability that the evidence possesses in the context of the issue presented.
Under no circumstances will an issue be resolved by allowing certain evidence
to be dispositive simply because it is reliable and is most favorable to a
party’s interests or position. If, after weighing all of the evidence
regarding an issue in which a claimant has an interest, there is a finding that
an equal amount of evidentiary weight exists favoring conflicting matters for
resolution, the resolution that is most consistent with the claimant’s position
will be adopted.
(b) Except as provided
in subsection (a) of this section, a claim for compensation filed pursuant to
this chapter must be decided on its merit and not according to any principle
that requires statutes governing workers’ compensation to be liberally
construed because they are remedial in nature. No such principle may be used
in the application of law to the facts of a case arising out of this chapter or
in determining the Constitutionality of this chapter
A claim for compensation filed pursuant to this chapter shall be decided on its merit. Because statutes governing workers’ compensation are remedial in nature they shall be liberally construed during all stages of the claims process. Therefore, the claimant is entitled to the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn in support of his or her claim.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a liberal weighing of the evidence for workers’ compensation claims during any part of the workers’ compensation claim.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.