Steven L. Beshear

Summary

The court reversed the Franklin Circuit Court’s orders awarding retroactive monetary relief, attorneys’ fees, and prospective relief concerning the Pneumoconiosis Fund. It held that sovereign immunity and separation of powers barred an order requiring transfers from the General Fund, that no common fund supported a fee award, and that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge transfers from a fund to which they had never contributed. Justice Scott, joined by Justice Cunningham, concurred in the result but disputed the majority’s broad characterization of the legislature’s authority over private assessments.