Problem
I. Identify the issue of law posed by the case problem. This will be in the form of a question based on a legal concept from the chapter.
II. What should be the decision in the case? (i.e. the answer to the issue)
III. The reasoning for such decision.
There will also be a certification question after the six case problems.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a rule that required mine owners and operators to report within ten days every case of occupational illness "diagnosed" in an employee. MSHA then found it necessary to interpret the term "diagnosed" as it arose in the context of a chest x-ray that arguably showed than an employee had contracted pneumoconiosis; a disease that is almost always caused by exposure to coal dust. MSHA decided to define diagnosis with reference to the criteria used by a widely-respected public health organization for purposes of determining whether some suffers from pneumoconiosis. That organization classified x-rays on a twelve step scale based on the concentration of opacities in the x-ray, and classified x-ray readers on a scale based on the reader's relative skill at reading x-rays. The agency's first interpretation of the word "diagnosed," as used in its rule, relied on a particularly combination of x-ray readings and x-ray readers. After some experience in applying that interpretation, and without notice, publication, or an opportunity for the public to comment, the agency issued a new interpretation that relied on a different combination of x-ray readings and x-ray readers. The American Mining Congress challenged this new interpretation in Court.