Coal miners win age discrimination suit against Massey Energy subsidiary
More than 200 West Virginia coal miners over the age of 40 -- including more than 80 members of the United Mine Workers of America -- will share in an $8.75 million settlement in an age discrimination lawsuit they filed three years ago.
The miners applied to work at a mine in Kanawha County, W.Va. that was purchased by Massey Energy subsidiary Spartan Mining Co. after its previous owner, Horizon Natural Resources, went bankrupt. All were denied employment and later sued.
Formerly known as the Cannelton Mine, the operation is now called the Mammoth mine. It's the same facility where the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that the company illegally discriminated against UMWA members by refusing to hire them.
"This settlement highlights yet again the treacherous and backhanded manner Massey treated the miners who had worked at the Cannelton mine for decades," UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said in a press statement. "While it was discriminating against these experienced miners because of their age or union status, the company was at the same time publicly crying about the lack of experienced miners in the coalfields.
"But it wasn't that Massey couldn't find experienced miners," Roberts continued. "They were there all along and wanted to work. It was that the company would rather break the law than allow its employees to have a strong voice at work and the tremendous benefits of a union contract."
The class-action lawsuit was brought on behalf of the miners by the Grubb Law Group of Charleston, W.Va. Judge Paul M. Blake of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court of Fayette County, W.Va. gave his final approval to the settlement agreement after a hearing Friday.
The 82 members of the class who are also claimants in the NLRB case will receive cash awards of $38,000. Members of the class who were not members of the bargaining unit case or are not claimants in the NLRB case will receive cash awards of $19,000.
Headquartered in Richmond, Va., Massey Energy is the largest coal producer in central Appalachia and a major mountaintop removal operator. Last year the company produced 41 million tons of coal, earning $56.2 million in net income on revenues of $2.5 billion.
The miners applied to work at a mine in Kanawha County, W.Va. that was purchased by Massey Energy subsidiary Spartan Mining Co. after its previous owner, Horizon Natural Resources, went bankrupt. All were denied employment and later sued.
Formerly known as the Cannelton Mine, the operation is now called the Mammoth mine. It's the same facility where the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that the company illegally discriminated against UMWA members by refusing to hire them.
"This settlement highlights yet again the treacherous and backhanded manner Massey treated the miners who had worked at the Cannelton mine for decades," UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said in a press statement. "While it was discriminating against these experienced miners because of their age or union status, the company was at the same time publicly crying about the lack of experienced miners in the coalfields.
"But it wasn't that Massey couldn't find experienced miners," Roberts continued. "They were there all along and wanted to work. It was that the company would rather break the law than allow its employees to have a strong voice at work and the tremendous benefits of a union contract."
The class-action lawsuit was brought on behalf of the miners by the Grubb Law Group of Charleston, W.Va. Judge Paul M. Blake of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court of Fayette County, W.Va. gave his final approval to the settlement agreement after a hearing Friday.
The 82 members of the class who are also claimants in the NLRB case will receive cash awards of $38,000. Members of the class who were not members of the bargaining unit case or are not claimants in the NLRB case will receive cash awards of $19,000.
Headquartered in Richmond, Va., Massey Energy is the largest coal producer in central Appalachia and a major mountaintop removal operator. Last year the company produced 41 million tons of coal, earning $56.2 million in net income on revenues of $2.5 billion.
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.