By MATT HARVEY
NCWV Media
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Supreme Court soon will consider a question — and perhaps two — that could decide whether the families of 78 miners killed in the 1968 Farmington No. 9 explosion can sue Consolidation Coal over a fraudulent concealment claim.
The questions come from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s considering whether to overturn a decision by Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley that dismissed the class action lawsuit.
The 4th Circuit, seated as Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory, and Judges Barbara Milano Keenan and Diana Gribbon Motz, sent the certified questions to the West Virginia Supreme Court. The U.S. appeals court judges haven’t found West Virginia authority that definitively answers the two questions.
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