COLUMBIA, S.C.—A former Westinghouse Electric Corp. worker who contracted asbestosis is not entitled to workers compensation benefits because he could not prove that he lost any wages, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled.

The case of Thomas E. Skinner vs. Westinghouse Electric Corp. focused on Mr. Skinner's 15 years of employment performing different jobs for Westinghouse beginning in 1968.

During that time, he was exposed regularly to asbestos dust from insulation products, court records state.

Mr. Skinner also was a National Guard reservist and left Westinghouse in 1983 to work full-time for the National Guard earning more than he did while working for Westinghouse. But he began having breathing problems while working for Westinghouse and his condition worsened after he left the company.

He was diagnosed with asbestosis and other medical problems in 2003. A year later, he filed a workers comp claim stating that he suffered an accidental injury caused by chronic inhalation of asbestos while at Westinghouse.

A workers comp commissioner found Mr. Skinner suffered from an occupational disease and was partially disabled. The commissioner awarded him $119,159.66. A workers compensation appellate panel affirmed the commissioner's order.

Upon further appeal, a circuit court referred the matter to a special referee, who affirmed the earlier findings.

In an appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court, Westinghouse asked whether state law bars a claimant with pulmonary disease from recovering workers comp disability benefits if he cannot show lost wages.

Ruling Tuesday, the state high court found that there is no question that Mr. Skinner suffers from an occupational disease, but it also ruled that pulmonary diseases are compensable only under a section of state law that requires proof of lost wages.

Mr. Skinner's “workers compensation claim fails because he cannot establish any lost wages occasioned by his asbestosis,” the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled. “In fact, the only evidence of Skinner's wages established that he was making more money with the National Guard than he did when he was employed by Westinghouse.”

The court reversed the special referee's ruling and the monetary award.