Secretary of Labor on behalf of Earl Kennedy and Larry Collins v. Raven Red Ash Coal Corporation (ALJ decision, May 2, 1986)

Plain-English summary

After Earl Kennedy and Larry Collins won back pay in a discrimination case against Raven Red Ash Coal Corporation, the Secretary asked Judge George A. Koutras to correct the interest rate in his April decision. The judge replaced a fixed 9 percent rate with the Commission-approved interest formula. He retained the $2,170 back-pay award for Kennedy and the $10,600 award for Collins, subject to normal withholding and interest. He directed the complainants to calculate the interest and gave the company time to respond. He expressly reserved a final order until the exact amount due was determined and ordered paid. This order modified the remedy calculation without deciding any new safety citations.

Decision snapshot

• Governing provision: 30 U.S.C. § 815(c)(1), the discrimination provision underlying the back-pay awards.
• Outcome: Interest calculation amended; $2,170 and $10,600 back-pay principal retained; final payment order reserved.
• Key point: The judge corrected the interest method while leaving the exact amounts for later determination.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

CCASE:
SOL (MSHA) V. RAVEN RED ASH COAL
DDATE:
19860502
TTEXT:
~733

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

SECRETARY OF LABOR,
DISCRIMINATION PROCEEDING
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION (MSHA),
Docket No. VA 85-32-D
ON BEHALF OF
MSHA Case No. NORT CD 84-7
EARL KENNEDY,
LARRY COLLINS,
Mine No. 1
COMPLAINANTS
v.

RAVEN RED ASH COAL
CORPORATION,
RESPONDENT

AMENDED DECISION

Appearances: Sheila K. Cronan, Esq., Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, Arlington, Virginia, for the Complainants;
Daniel R. Bieger, Esq., Copeland, Molinary & Bieger, Abingdon, Virginia, for the Respondent.

Before: Judge Koutras

By motion filed April 23, 1986, the Secretary requests that I reconsider my decision of April 7, 1986, with respect to the applicable interest rate to be applied to the back pay awarded the complainants. The Secretary states that the interest rates for part of the back pay periods in question should be more than the 9 percent referred to in my decision. The Secretary seeks leave to compute and file the necessary interest computations to cure the minor defect in my decision.

Commission Rule 65, 29 C.F.R. 2700.65, authorizes the Judge to correct clerical mistakes and errors arising from oversights or omissions in his decision. I consider the subject matter of the Secretary's request to fall within the rule. Accordingly, the Secretary's motion IS GRANTED, and my decision is amended as follows:
~734
1. The words "at a rate of 9 percent until it is paid" are deleted from lines 2 and 6, on page 40, and they are replaced with the words "in accordance with the Commission-approved formula set out in Secretary ex rel. Bailey v. ArkansasÄCarbona Co., 5 FMSHRC 2042, 2050Ä2054 (Dec., 1983)."

2. The following new paragraph is inserted between the second and third full paragraphs on page 40, as follows:

Complainant shall submit a statement no more than 30 days after the date of this Amended Decision stating the total amount of interest that is due on the back wage award to each employee, to the date of this Amended Decision. Respondent shall have 10 days from the date the statement is submitted to reply.

3. The second full paragraph on page 40 is replaced with the following:

This order is not final until the exact amount due is determined and ordered to be paid.

4. Footnote 1 on page 40 is deleted.

The Amended Decision should now read as follows:

ORDER

The respondent IS ORDERED to pay the complainant Earl Kennedy the sum of $2,170, less any amounts normally withheld pursuant to state and Federal law, with interest to the net back-pay award in accordance with the Commission-approved formula set out in Secretary ex rel. Bailey v. ArkansasÄCarbona Co., 5 FMSHRC 2042, 2050Ä2054 (Dec., 1983).

The respondent IS ORDERED to pay the complainant Larry Collins the sum of $10,600 less any amounts normally withheld pursuant to state and Federal law, with interest to the net back-pay award in accordance with the Commission-approved formula set out in Secretary ex rel. Bailey v. ArkansasÄCarbona Co., 5 FMSHRC 2042, 2050Ä2054 (Dec. 1983).

Complainant shall submit a statement no more than 30 days after the date of this Amended Decision stating the total amount of interest that is due on the back wage award to each employee, to the date of this Amended Decision. Respondent shall have 10 days from the date the statement is submitted to reply.
~735
This order is not final until the exact amount due is determined and ordered to be paid.

George A. Koutras
Administrative Law Judge