United Mine Workers of America International Union v. Martinka Coal Co.

45 F. Supp. 2d 521, 15 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 555, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4399, 1999 WL 194147
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedMarch 26, 1999
Docket2:96-cv-00156
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 45 F. Supp. 2d 521 (United Mine Workers of America International Union v. Martinka Coal Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United Mine Workers of America International Union v. Martinka Coal Co., 45 F. Supp. 2d 521, 15 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 555, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4399, 1999 WL 194147 (N.D.W. Va. 1999).

Opinion

AMENDED FINDINGS FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW REGARDING DAMAGES UNDER THE WARN ACT

KEELEY, District Judge.

In a memorandum opinion and order dated December 30, 1997, this Court found that the defendants had violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2101-09 (“WARN” or the WARN Act) by laying off 89 workers on October 3, 1995, one day after they announced the closing of Martinka Coal Company’s (“Martinka”) Tygart River Mine. On April 6, 1998, the Court conducted a bench trial on the issue of the damages due to the aggrieved employees. The parties have stipulated to a number of facts and have also filed post-trial briefs, with detailed calculations of the amounts due.

*523 I. BACKGROUND.

The WARN Act requires that an employer provide sixty days notice to employees who would be affected before ordering a mass layoff or a plant closing. 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a). In the absence of such notice, the employees are entitled to

(A) back pay for each day of violation at a rate of compensation not less than the higher of—
(i) the average regular rate received by such employee during the last three years of the employee’s employment; or
(ii) the final regular rate received by such employee; and
(B) benefits under an employee benefit plan described in section 1002(3) of this title [referring to the Employment Retirement Income Security Act] including the cost of medical expenses incurred during the employment loss which would have been covered under an employee benefit plan if the employment loss had not occurred.

The legislative history, at S.Rep. No. 62 100th Cong, 1st Sess. (1987), at 24, provides:

For violations of the notice provisions, damages are to be measured by the wages and fringe benefits (including reimbursement for medical expenses) the employee would have received had the plant remained open or the layoff been deferred until the conclusion of the notice period, less any wages or fringe benefits received from the violating employer during that period. This is in effect a liquidated damages provision, designed to penalize the wrongdoing employer, deter future violations, and facilitate simplified damages provisions, (emphasis added)

Although the primary focus of WARN is to provide notice and opportunity for retraining to soften the blow of unemployment, the damages allowed when that notice was not available should put the workers in the same position they would have been if the employer had obeyed the law. In this case, 211 mine workers received the 60 day notice and continued working, with all the attendant benefits of the National Bituminous Coal Workers Agreement (“NBCWA”) of 1998. As the following discussion sets out, the 89 miners who received only one day’s notice before layoff should not be in a worse position than the 211. By granting all of their wages and contractual benefits, this Court bestows no windfall, but only puts these employees where they should have been had Martinka given them appropriate notice of the layoff.

At the pretrial conference in this matter, the Court adopted this make whole philosophy as its guiding principle and held that the employees aggrieved should receive the contractual benefits of the NBCWA to the same extent that these were provided to the 211 other miners who received proper notice under WARN. The Court also ruled that wages would be paid for each “working” day in the sixty day notice provision, as opposed to every calendar day. See Breedlove v. Earthgrains Baking Co., 140 F.3d 797 (8th Cir.1997); Saxion v. Titan-C Manufacturing, Inc., 86 F.3d 663 (6th Cir.1996); Frymire v. Ampex Corp., 61 F.3d 767 (10th Cir.1995); Carpenters Dist. Council of New Orleans v. Dillard Dept. Stores, Inc., 16 F.3d 1275 (5th Cir.1994), cert denied, 513 U.S. 1126, 115 S.Ct. 933, 130 L.Ed.2d 879 (1995); but see, United Steelworkers of America v. North Star Steel Co., 5 F.3d 39 (3rd Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1114, 114 S.Ct. 1060, 127 L.Ed.2d 380 (1994).

Finally, the Court determined that prejudgment interest was appropriate, and that the rate to be applied was the floating rate set under the federal post-judgment interest statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1961. The issue of attorney fees was left to be resolved after all other issues.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT.

A. Stipulations.

Without waiving any objections or arguments to the Court’s previous rulings on *524 damages, the parties submitted three sets of stipulations which the Court will adopt as its findings of fact.

1. On October 2, 1995, Martinka Coal Company provided a WARN notice of its planned mine closing to the United Mine Workers of America (“UMWA”), the representative of the 89 claimant/employees.

2. On October 3, 1995, at 3:00 p.m., Martinka laid off 89 employees from its Tygart River mine.

3. Twenty-nine (29) employees were on the midnight shift and had already completed work for October 3, 1995, the day of their layoff, and thus received regular wages for that day. Thus, for those 29 employees, October 3, 1995, was the last day of work and October 4, 1995 was the first “day of violation.”

4. Fifty (50) employees, assigned to the afternoon shift, were not permitted to work on October 3, 1995, and received no wages for that day. Thus, October 3, 1995, is the first “day of violation” for these employees.

5. Ten (10) employees were not actively at work on October 3, 1995, the day the layoffs took effect. Martinka listed them as employees who would be permanently laid off that day. As to these ten employees:

(a) Claimant Antok was injured on the job. His last day of work was August 29, 1995, and he was released to work as of October 15, 1996.

(b) Claimant Bates was off work due to illness. His. last day worked was September 15, 1995, and he was released.to return to work as of October 6, 1995.

(c) Claimant Boka was injured at work. Her last day worked was April 24, 1995, and she was released to return to work on January 29, 1996.

(d) Claimant Donajeris was suspended with intent to discharge for absenteeism. His last day worked was July 7, 1995. Plaintiffs are not claiming that he is entitled to any damages in this case.

(e) Claimant Eddy was on a leave of absence for union business at the time of layoff. He was not scheduled to return to active employment prior to December 1, 1995.

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45 F. Supp. 2d 521, 15 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 555, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4399, 1999 WL 194147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-mine-workers-of-america-international-union-v-martinka-coal-co-wvnd-1999.