Secretary of Labor obo Timothy Barnes, et al. v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Timothy Barnes, et al. v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2021-0152): Discrimination cases settled
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This is citable Commission precedent from 2025, and it may have been appealed since. Ezel checks how it stands today and answers your situation, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A judge found that Warrior Met Coal Mining discriminated against miners Timothy Barnes and Brandon Hall for exercising rights protected by the Mine Act. The judge ordered reinstatement and backpay relief, assessed $40,000 in civil penalties, required removal of related employment records, and directed management training. Warrior Met sought Commission review, but the parties reached a settlement while briefing was suspended. The Commission approved the agreement, ordered Warrior Met to make the agreed monetary and nonmonetary relief within 30 days, reduced the civil penalties to a total of $6,000, and dismissed both proceedings.
Decision snapshot
- Cited authority: 30 U.S.C. §§ 815(c)(1) and 815(c)(2)
- Outcome: The settlement was approved, $6,000 in civil penalties was ordered, and both discrimination cases were dismissed.
- Key point: Commission review ended in an approved settlement that replaced the judge's ordered remedies with the parties' agreed terms.
Full text (FMSHRC public release)
FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
REVIEW COMMISSION
1331 PENNSYLVANIA AVE.,
N.W., SUITE 520N
WASHINGTON, DC
20004-1710
SECRETARY
OF LABOR
MINE
SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION
(MSHA)
on
behalf of TIMOTHY BARNES
v.
WARRIOR
MET COAL MINING, LLC
SECRETARY
OF LABOR
MINE
SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION
(MSHA)
on
behalf of BRANDON HALL
v.
WARRIOR
MET COAL MINING, LLC
Docket
No. SE 2021-0152
Docket
No. SE 2021-0155
BEFORE: Jordan,
Chair; Baker and Marvit, Commissioners
DECISION APPROVING
SETTLEMENT
BY THE
COMMISSION :
These proceedings arise under section
105(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 815(c)
(2024) (“Act” or “Mine Act”). They involve complaints of discrimination and
interference filed by Timothy Barnes and Brandon Hall (“Complainants”) against
Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC (“Warrior Met”) pursuant to section 105(c)(2) of
the Mine Act. [1]
On January 10, 2025, after a hearing on
the merits, a Commission Administrative Law Judge issued a joint decision and
order holding that Warrior Met had discriminated against the Complainants in
violation of section 105(c) of the Mine Act. 47 FMSHRC 40 (Jan. 2025) (ALJ).
The Judge ordered that Warrior Met
reinstate Mr. Hall to the position he would have held but for the discharge, or
to a similar position, at the same rate of pay, same shift assignment, and with
the same or equivalent duties, and awarded backpay in the amount of $24,711.65.
He awarded Mr. Barnes backpay in the amount of $22,320.20. Both miners were to
be paid quarterly interest at the Federal underpayment rate through the date of
payment to them. The Judge assessed civil penalties in the sum of $40,000
($20,000 for each violation) against the operator for the two section 105(c)
violations. Finally, the Judge ordered Warrior Met to completely expunge all
references to the circumstances involved in this matter from Hall’s and Barnes’
employment records and required all members of Warrior Met’s management
personnel to participate in a training course on the rights protected under
section 105(c) of the Mine Act.
Warrior Met subsequently filed a petition
for discretionary review of the Judge’s decision. On February 13, 2025, the
Commission issued a direction for review, granting the petition. On March 10,
2025, to provide the parties with additional time to reach a potential
settlement of the cases, the Commission granted Warrior Met’s unopposed motion
for a forty-five-day extension of time to file its opening brief.
After previously being granted a
45-day extension to reach settlement, on May 6, 2025, the Secretary of Labor
filed an unopposed motion to suspend the briefing schedule and hold this appeal
in abeyance while the parties continued their settlement discussions. The
Commission issued an order granting the motion on July 3, 2025. [2] On August 22, 2025, the
Secretary filed an unopposed motion to approve settlement agreement in these discrimination
proceedings.
The Commission has previously
provided oversight of proposed settlements in discrimination cases. See,
e.g. , Sec’y on behalf of Maxey v. Leeco, Inc ., 20 FMSHRC 707, 707
(July 1998) (citing Sec’y on behalf of Hopkins v. ASARCO, Inc ., 19
FMSHRC 1, 2 (Jan. 1997); Reid v. Kiah Creek Mining Co ., 15 FMSHRC 390 (Mar.
1993); Sec’y on behalf of Gabossi v. Western Fuels–Utah, Inc ., 11 FMSHRC
134, 135 (Feb. 1989); Sec’y on behalf of Corbin v. Sugartree Corp ., 9
FMSHRC 197, 198 (Feb. 1987)); see also Wilson,
Greenwell and Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Co., Inc ., 40 FMSHRC 973, 974 (July
2018).
Having reviewed the terms of the
proposed settlement agreement, the Commission grants the parties’ motion for
approval of settlement. Warrior Met is hereby ordered to make monetary payments
to Complainants in accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement within
30 days of the date of this decision, as well as meet the remaining
non-monetary terms of the settlement as agreed upon by the parties. Warrior Met
is further ordered to pay civil penalties totaling $6,000 to the Secretary of
Labor within 30 days of the date of this decision. Payment of the
penalties should be made electronically at Pay.Gov, a service of the U.S.
Department of the Treasury at https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/67564508 . These
proceedings are dismissed.
/s/ Mary Lu Jordan
Mary
Lu Jordan, Chair
/s/ Timothy J. Baker
Timothy J. Baker, Commissioner
/s/ Moshe Z. Marvit
Moshe Z. Marvit, Commissioner
Distribution:
W.
Brock Phillips
John
B. Holmes, III
Maynard
Nexsen, P.C.
1901
Sixth Avenue North
Birmingham,
AL 35203
John
R. Jacobs
Maples,
Tucker & Jacobs, LLC
2001
Park Place North, Suite 1325
Birmingham,
AL 35203
Kristin
R. Murphy
Office
of the Solicitor
U.S.
Department of Labor
Sam
Nunn Atlanta Federal Center
61 Forsyth Street, S.W., Room 7T10
Atlanta, GA 30303
Jennifer
A. Ledig
US
Department of Labor
Office
of the Solicitor
Division
of Mine Safety and Health
200
Constitution Avenue NW, Suite N4428
Washington,
DC 20210
Thomas
A. Paige, Esq.
Deputy
Associate Solicitor
US
Department of Labor
Office
of the Solicitor
Division
of Mine Safety and Health
200
Constitution Avenue NW, Suite N4428
Washington,
DC 20210
Melanie
Garris
US
Department of Labor/MSHA
Office
of Assessments, Room N3454
200
Constitution Ave NW
Washington,
DC 20210
Chief
Administrative Law Judge Glynn F. Voisin
Office
of the Chief Administrative Law Judge
Federal Mine Safety Health Review Commission
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 520N
Washington, DC 20004-1710
[1] Section 105(c)(1)
of the Mine Act provides in relevant part that “[n]o person shall discharge or
in any manner discriminate against . . . or otherwise interfere with the
exercise of statutory rights of any miner . . . because of the exercise by such
miner . . . of any statutory right afforded by this Act.” 30 U.S.C. §
815(c)(1).
Under section
105(c)(2) of the Act, a miner may file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor
alleging discrimination or interference in violation of section 105(c)(1), and
the Secretary is required to investigate the complaint. If, upon such
investigation, the Secretary determines that a violation has occurred, the
Secretary is required to file a complaint on behalf of the miner with the
Commission. 30 U.S.C. § 815(c)(2).
[2] Despite the
Commission’s July 3, 2025 Order, the parties erroneously state that the
Secretary’s unopposed motion to suspend the briefing schedule and hold the
appeal in abeyance remained pending at the time of filing the motion for
settlement on August 25, 2025. Sec’y’s Unopposed Motion to Approve Settlement
Agreement at 3.
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