By Mike Tony Staff, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Coal companies operated by Gov. Jim Justice’s family have reached an agreement with four retired miners and the United Mine Workers of America to resolve a federal lawsuit filed in August 2019.
The union, the miners and Justice Energy Co. Inc., Keystone Service Industries, Bluestone Coal Corporation, Double-Bonus Coal Company and Southern Coal Corporation had been working on outstanding claims since reaching an agreement filed in January 2020 to resolve the preliminary injunction motion in the case.
The union and retired miners James E. Graham II of Monroe County; Dennis Adkins of Jacksonville, North Carolina; Roger Wriston of Fayette County; and David Polk of Wyoming County asked the court to stop the Justice companies from terminating employer benefit plans for retired coal miners, their spouses and dependents, saying their refusal to pay for medical and prescription benefits caused them to miss out on critical health treatments. They also asked the court to make the companies reimburse the retirees named in the lawsuit and others who incurred health care expenses they said the company should have paid.
The two sides proposed a consent judgment and permanent injunction against the Justice coal companies last week that would require the companies to provide uninterrupted health care and prescription drug coverage to eligible retirees and their eligible dependents…