Secretary of Labor obo Samuel Coleman v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC (ALJ decision, December 22, 2023)

Plain-English summary

The judge had ordered Warrior Met Coal Mining to temporarily reinstate Samuel Coleman on December 12, 2023. Nine days later, the parties jointly asked to replace actual reinstatement with an economic temporary-reinstatement agreement retroactive to the original order date. The judge found that the agreement did not reduce Coleman's rights under section 105(c)(2). He granted the joint motion and converted the earlier order to temporary economic reinstatement. The order provided interim relief and did not decide the underlying discrimination claim.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authority: 30 U.S.C. § 815(c)(2)
• Outcome: The joint motion was granted, converting actual temporary reinstatement to economic temporary reinstatement.
• Key point: Parties may substitute economic reinstatement when the agreed terms preserve the miner's temporary-reinstatement rights.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE

1331 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., N.W., SUITE 520N

WASHINGTON, DC 20004-1710

TELEPHONE: 202-434-9900 / FAX: 202-434-9949

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SECRETARY OF LABOR MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (MSHA), on behalf of SAMUEL COLEMAN, Complainant v. WARRIOR MET COAL MINING, LLC, Respondent |
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TEMPORARY REINSTATEMENT
Docket No. SE 2024-0060 MSHA Case No. SE-MD-24-03 Mine: No. 7 Mine Mine ID: 01-01401 |
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ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR ECONOMIC TEMPORARY REINSTATEMENT

Before: Judge Sullivan

On
December 12, 2023, I granted the Secretary of Labor’s unopposed Application for Temporary Reinstatement of Complainant Samuel Coleman. Pursuant to section 105(c)(2) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801, et seq., and 29 C.F.R. § 2700.45, I ordered Complainant’s immediate temporary reinstatement to positions at the No. 7 Mine of Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC.

On December 21, 2023, the parties jointly moved for an order approving their agreement to economically temporarily reinstate the Complainant in lieu of the actual temporary reinstatement ordered on December 12. Their motion details the terms of the economic reinstatement agreement reached by the parties, retroactive to the date of my original order.

Because nothing in the motion’s description of the terms of the agreement appears to reduce Complainant’s rights under section 105(c)(2), the motion is granted, and my December 12 order is converted to an order of temporary economic reinstatement retroactive to that date. All other provisions of that order remain in effect.

/s/
John T. Sullivan

John T. Sullivan

Administrative Law Judge

Distribution:

Colleen E. Howard & Jean C. Abreu, Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., Room 7T10, Atlanta, GA 30303 ([email protected]) ([email protected])

Atlanta Docket ([email protected])

W. Brock Phillips & John B. Holmes, III, MAYNARD NEXSEN, P.C., 1901 Sixth Avenue North, Suite 1700, Birmingham, AL 35203 ([email protected]) ([email protected])

Samuel Coleman ([email protected])