( January 24, 2025, 9:57 AM EST) -- RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied an insurer and its insured coal mine operator’s petition for review of a U.S. Department of Labor benefits review board ruling upholding an administrative law judge’s order requiring the operator to pay black lung benefits to its former employee, finding that Virginia law does not require its state-created insurance guaranty funds “to assume liability” for the miner’s more-recent employer or its insolvent insurer....