Clinchfield Coal Company (ALJ decision, July 23, 1987)

Plain-English summary

Following an underground explosion at the McClure No. 1 Mine, MSHA issued an imminent-danger withdrawal order and later cited underlying mandatory-standard violations. On remand, Judge Gary Melick held that the parties' stipulation established the required connection between the withdrawal order and a mandatory-standard violation. He granted the UMWA's motion for summary decision and ordered Clinchfield Coal Company to pay one week's compensation, plus interest from July 13, 1983, to the listed miners. The request for litigation costs and attorney fees was denied.

Decision snapshot

• Governing provisions: 30 U.S.C. § 821 and 29 C.F.R. § 2700.64
• Outcome: Summary decision was granted for the UMWA, and the listed miners were awarded one week's compensation plus interest.
• Key point: A stipulated causal connection between an imminent-danger order and an underlying mandatory-standard violation can support compensation under section 111.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission Office of Administrative Law Judges

LOCAL UNION 2274, DISTRICT 28,
COMPENSATION PROCEEDING
UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA
(UMWA),
Docket No. VA 83-55-C
COMPLAINANT
McClure No. 1 Mine v.

CLINCHFIELD COAL COMPANY,
RESPONDENT

DECISION

Before: Judge Gary Melick

This case is before me on remand from the Commission to determine whether certain allegations of violations cited in a section 104(d)(1) citation and three section 104(d)(1) withdrawal orders provide the required nexus between the section 107(a) imminent danger withdrawal order at bar and an underlying violation of a mandatory standard. (FOOTNOTE 1) The Commission further directed that if such a relationship is found to exist then appropriate action should be taken to identify affected miners and determine the amount of compensation due each miner.

In this case the UMWA seeks one-week compensation pursuant to section 111 of the Act for certain miners employed by the Clinchfield Coal Company (Clinchfield) as of June 23, 1983. (FOOTNOTE 2) In conjunction with the motion for summary decision now before me the parties stipulated that "a causal nexus existed between the 107(a) order issued to Clinchfield's McClure No. 1 Mine on June 23, 1983, and a violation of a mandatory standard in the McClure No. 1 Mine." The parties also stipulated to a list of miners on whose behalf the UMWA was seeking compensation, their rates of pay as of June 23, 1983, and the amount of compensation sought on behalf of each of those miners.

As stated in the UMWA motion, the compensation claim at bar arose following an underground explosion at the McClure No. 1 Mine on June 21, 1983. Subsequently at 4:00 a.m. on June 22, 1983, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a Section 107(a) "imminent danger" withdrawal order covering the entire mine. The motion further states that on March 26, 1984, MSHA issued one section 104(d)(1) citation and four section 104(d)(1) withdrawal orders, of which three alleged that the cited violations had resulted in a methane ignition which caused the explosion. Clinchfield did not contest the citations or orders and paid the civil penalties assessed by MHSA. On September 30, 1983, the UMWA filed this claim for one-week compensation under section 111 of the Act.

In its opposition to the motion for summary decision Clinchfield argues that the prerequisites for awarding the one-week compensation under section 111 of the Act have not been met. Clinchfield argues that the miners were not "idled by" an order issued "for a failure for the operator to comply with any mandatory health or safety standards" as that section requires. Clinchfield observes that this argument has been rejected by the Commission in the September 26, 1986, decision (8 FMSHRC 1310) remanding this case for the instant proceedings but submits the argument to preserve its appeal rights.

Indeed it is clear that Clinchfield's argument has been rejected by the Commission and within the framework of the stipulations presented herein it is established that the miners at issue were in fact "idled by" an order issued "for a failure of the operator to comply with any mandatory health or safety standard" as required by section 111. The UMWA Motion for Summary Decision is therefore granted. Commission Rule 64, 29 C.F.R. 2700.64. The miners are accordingly entitled to one-week compensation under that section 111 of the Act.

The UMWA is also seeking interest on the compensation awarded in these proceedings dating from July 13, 1983. The award of interest is indeed consistent with the decisions of this Commission and the purposes of section 111 of the Act. It is accordingly awarded in this case. Mine Workers, Local 5869 v. Youngstown Mine Corporation, 1 FMSHRC 990 (1979): Peabody Coal Company v. Mine Workers, 1 FMSHRC 1785 (1979). Such interest shall be calculated in accordance with the formula set forth by the Commission in Bailey v. Arkansas-Carbona Company and Walker, 5 FMSHRC 2042 (1983). While the UMWA points out that the National Labor Relations Board has recently adopted a revised procedure for computing interest on back pay awards in light of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (see New Horizons for the Retarded, Inc., 283 NLRB No. 181, (May 28, 1987) this Commission has not adopted the revised formula. The UMWA request for costs and attorneys fees is denied. Aleyeska Pieline Service Co. v. The Wilderness Society et al., 421 U.S. 240 (1975).

ORDER

Clinchfield Coal Company is hereby directed to pay the following miners the noted compensation plus interest from July 13, 1983, in accordance with the formula set forth in Secretary v. Arkansas-Carbona Company and Walker, 5 FMSHRC 2042 (1983):

(8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Shift)

Miner
Compensation

Virgil Lee Fuller $505.70
Garneth Duty
505.70
Jerry Martin
536.60
Homer Gouge
536.60
Darrel J. McCowan 496.80
Jerry A. Hibbitts 505.70
Billy J. Coffey 491.60
Millard Harris 505.70
Danny McConnell 491.60

Edward M. Miller 536.60
Roger D. Austin 536.60
Kenneth Stacy 536.60
Sherman Matney 499.90
Sammy M. Smith 505.70
Randy Beverly 491.60
James R. Stevens 536.60
Edgar B. Moore 493.90
Bobby Murphy 536.60
Ollie Stanley 536.60
Junior Rainwater 506.60
Richard H. Baker 506.60
Joseph A. Counts 536.60
Robert L. Seitz 505.70
David R. Fuller 493.90
Jimmy L. Honaker 536.60
Harold B. Honaker 493.90
Nancy E. Mullins 505.70
H.D. Vencil 491.60
Dewey E. Stanley 499.45
Carrol Rasnick 499.90
James W. Mullins 493.90
Jerry W. Owens 536.60
Ronald M. Mann 493.90
Kemper Hill, Jr. 493.90
Garnice Hill 536.60
George P. Willis 536.60
Gaye N. Little 499.90
Demus A. Stanley 517.70
Roger L. Bentley 499.90
Kenneth L. Fleming 499.90
Ronald L. Welch 505.70
Randall L. Campell 493.90
C.E. Edwards 493.90
Fred Allen Mullins 505.70
Bobby A. Wampler 476.90
Billy B. Rose 496.80
Willis D. Rasnake 536.60
Larry G. Woods 536.60
Forgy Ray Pennell 493.90
Lowell Bise 536.80
Randy Smith 505.70
Billy G. Mullins 536.80
Marquis R. Neece 493.90
Michael W. Blackson 536.60
Jerry Deel
505.70
J.C. Vance
493.90
James C. Stanley 536.60
Michael D. Rose 505.70
John B. Yates 505.70

Danny Hughes
493.90
Clint J. Owens 493.90
Jim W. O'Quin
487.70
Trinkle L. O'Quin 505.70
Ron J. Baker
536.60
Raymond K. Breeding 536.60
Paul Owens
493.90
Gary Souleyrette 493.90
Wally V. Kennedy 536.60
Olaf D. Kennedy 536.60
Donald Duncan
536.60
Michael R. Kennedy 462.45
William C. Bolling 505.70
Michael J. Rasnick 493.90
Richard W. Hughes 536.60
Rodney A. Shortt 548.60
Steve L. Hale
496.80
Lee Vern O'Quinn 505.70
William Fletcher 505.70
Samuel J. Clay 321.66
Bobby L. Sykes 505.70
James D. Meade 505.70
Jack D. Yates
491.60
Randall C. Hamilton 491.60
Clifford D. Boyd 505.70
Don B. Hall
536.60
Paris Collins
536.60
Randy Wireman
536.60
Bascome H. Taylor 496.80
Claude Turner, Jr. 536.60
Earl B. Willis 493.90
Larry D. Boyd
536.60
George H. Owens 548.60
Mark Kennedy
516.25
Hobert Taylor, Jr. 552.90
John K. Brooks 493.90
Raymond E. Sykes 536.60
Barry M. Hall
536.60
George P. Thomas 477.15
Norman Lewis
542.60

Miner
Compensation

(4:00 p.m. Midnight Shift)

Lois Bowman
$505.90
Joseph Brummett 505.90
Gregory Austin
548.60
Ardie E. Phillips 548.60
Teddy Tiller
548.60

Robert N. Phipps 517.70
Freddie J. Fultz 505.90
Lee O. Ratliff 548.60
Danny C. Edwards 505.90
Ricky L. Austin 517.70
Avery Boyd
505.90
Michael James 517.70
Joe Kiser
517.70
Danny R. Mullins 517.70
David S. Yates 517.70
Walter A. Deel 548.60
Paul V. Payne 548.60
Donald Williams 517.70
William C. Jackson 505.90
Henry Larry Phipps 548.60
David L. Stanley 548.60
Gary Lee Moore 548.60
Lonny F. Deel 548.60
Earnest E. McCoy 548.60
Darrell W. Thomas 478.80
Thelma Deel
517.70
Dennis Wagner 548.60
Lenville Mullins 517.70
Randy Breeding 548.60
John Mullins
548.60
Everette Miles 517.70
Kemper Damron 548.60
Earl Turner
548.60
James Stapleton 505.90
Gallie Greene, Jr. 505.90
Evelyn Delaney 517.70
James A. Stanley, Jr. 548.60
Michael Lane
548.60
James W. Hamilton 508.80
A. Paul Blevins 517.70
Urban Bartley 508.80
Ronnie Brown
505.90
Kellis C. Barton 548.60
Kile Spangler 548.60
Robert M. Dixon 548.60
Danny L. Chaffin 508.80
Sarah W. Rose 517.70
Curtis W. Franks 548.60
Jim R. Mullins 219.44
Tim Ruff
517.70
Jason E. McKinney 548.60
Jerry L. Jenkins 508.80
Steve J. Hamilton 517.70
Greg S. Fleming 517.70
Jim R. Hearl
548.60

Bob J. Martin
505.90
James E. Holbrook 548.60
James Wagner
548.60
Abraham P. Stevens 548.60
Victor Wallace
548.60
Randy D. Lane
548.60
Wade P. Mullins
548.60
Herbert Johnson
517.70
William R. Johnson 505.90

Miner
Compensation

(Midnight - 8:00 a.m. shift)

Fred A. Counts
552.60
William F. Hartsock 509.90
Larry L. Fields
509.90
Jerry L. Phillips 509.90
Timothy Jennings
527.60
Greg Phillips
509.90
Glen Meade
552.60
Don C. Bush
512.80
Joseph B. Stanley 552.60
Margaret J. Mullins 509.90
Charles Musick
552.60
Dan Honaker
552.60
Laurence Skidmore 509.90
Bill V. Brooks
552.60
Felix J. Boyd
509.90
Earl Castle, Jr.
249.21
Dan R. Musick
509.90
Carter Harrison
552.60
David Gilmer
552.60
Lisa Dingus
552.60
Charlene Ball
552.60
Sue Ellen Fleming 520.00
Oliver B. Rasnake 552.60
Harold D. Stevens 520.00
Marvin E. Counts
512.60
Gary L. Stallard
552.60
Gary N. Mullins
552.60
Leonard Taylor, Jr. 509.90
Steve Viers
520.00
Ron G. McReynolds 552.60
Ron D. Deel
552.60
Maynard F. Heaton 552.60
Walter L. Browning 552.60
James Gray Puckett 512.80
Thermon H. Powers 509.90
Jim D. Sexton
512.80

Ernie J. Meade 515.90
Robert E. O'Quinn 552.60
Robert C. Bailey 509.90
Clyde Harris 509.90
David L. Stanley 203.96
Bob D. Wolfe 509.90
H. Fayne Rasnick 552.60
Bill R. Robinson 552.60
James Turner 552.60
Jeff H. Greear 552.60
Ted R. Smith 512.80
Tony P. Owens 552.60
Joe F. Harrison 552.60
Jiles R. Branham 552.60
Lacy P. Couch 552.60
Jerry D. Childress 527.60
Irene J. Castle 509.90
Anthony Lynch 509.90
Darrell Perkins 521.60
Lawrence Carico 552.60
Charles R. Senter 509.90
Ramey Presley 506.70
Sam W.C. Hughes 516.32
Harold R. Hall 516.32
Gleason R. Austin 550.56
Bill R. Jessee 534.56
Bill G.Large 534.56
William W. Carty 524.80
Walter R. Owens 524.80
James S. Johnson 524.80
R.R. Trent, Jr. 524.80
Ron G. Arney 524.80
William A. Patton 524.80
Paul V. Kennedy 534.56
Dennis Steffey 550.56
Dennis King 536.80
Harless Mullins 534.56
George J. Hughes 536.80
Jim Edwards 536.80
Wiley R. Compton 536.80
Charles L. Ventro 536.80
Richard Neilson 550.56
John Hobson 536.80
Harry T. Mullins 536.80
G.C. Rasnick 536.80
Glen F. Gillenwater 536.80
Bobby Hawkins 536.80
Benny Vance 536.80
David W. Lee 550.56
Joe Tate
550.56

Ben Collins 550.56
Hermon Brooks 550.56
Jim Martin 550.56
Bill West 524.80
William E. Lester 510.00
Harold A. Vanover 534.56
Barbara A. Artrip 510.28

Gary Melick
Administrative Law Judge
(703) 756-6261

1 Statutory references herein are to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. 801 et. seq., the "Act". The remand order was based upon the Commission's decision in Local Union 1889, District 17, UMWA v. Westmoreland Coal Company, 8 FMSHRC 1317 (1986), that a section 107(a) order, whether as issued or subsequently modified, need not itself allege a violation of a mandatory standard in order to trigger entitlement to the one-week compensation provisions under Section 111 of the Act. The Commission also concluded therein that allegations of violations subsequently cited may supply the required nexus under section 111 between the section 107(a) imminent danger order and an underlying violation of a mandatory standard.

2 Section 111 provides, as relevant hereto, as follows:

If a coal or other mine or area of such mine is closed by an order issued under section 104 or section 107 of this title for a failure of the operator to comply with any mandatory health or safety standards, all miners who are idled due to such order shall be fully compensated after all interested parties are given an opportunity for a public hearing, which shall be expedited in such cases, and after such order is final, by the operator for lost time at their regular rates of pay for such time as the miners are idled by such closing, or for one week, whichever is the lesser.