Mine safety whistleblowers reported retaliation at a rate far greater than any past year, according to statistics compiled by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”).  The agency reported 46 requests for temporary reinstatement during the 2012 calendar year, more than double any previous year.  The requests were [...]

Charles Howard, a coal miner and whistleblower who alleged that he was retaliated against in response to repeated complaints he made regarding the safety practices of his employer, Cumberland River Coal Company (“CRCC”), had his reinstatement to his job at CRCC affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Thursday, April [...]

An administrative law judge (“ALJ”) ordered Kentucky-based Cumberland River Coal Company to reinstate whistleblower Charles Scott Howard last week, finding that the company improperly terminated the eastern Kentucky coal miner in May 2011 following a workplace injury he sustained ten months earlier.  Following his injury, the ALJ found, Howard was treated extensively by “two neurosurgeons, [...]