Safety Last-One of the most reprehensible bosses in recent history is finally facing justice
Safety Last
One of the most reprehensible bosses in recent history is finally facing justice.
By Peter Galuszka
At 9 a.m. on Oct. 1, former coal baron Donald Leon Blankenship will stand before a judge at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston, West Virginia, for what promises to be a lengthy, complex, and historic criminal trial.
The tall, jowly man was chief executive of the now-defunct Massey Energy Company for a decade. He will be brought to justice for allegedly shunning coal mine safety rules, conspiring to conceal safety violations, and lying to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and company shareholders. He faces 30 years in prison if convicted.
Known for his in-your-face policies and politics, Blankenship is accused of creating a ruthless work culture that skimped on safety and employee well-being to improve the bottom line. Three investigators have concluded that his methods contributed to the explosion at the company’s Upper Big Branch deep mine at Montcoal, West Virginia, that killed 29 miners on April 5, 2010. It was the worst mine disaster in 40 years in this country.
The trial, expected to take at least a month, will go far beyond the four criminal indictments. It represents both a beginning and an end for the Central Appalachian coalfields of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia that have seen plenty of blood, pain, and exploitation.
It is the first time in 150 years of Appalachian mining that the top boss of a coal firm has ever had to answer for how he ran his company. “It’s unusual for a CEO to be indicted on criminal charges, but for the coal industry, it is really unprecedented,” says Pat McGinley, a law professor at West Virginia University. “It’s never really happened in the last century where you have had countless disasters killing thousands of miners,” he says. “It is unique.”
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/09/don_blankenship_trial_boss_of_massey_during_upper_big_branch_explosion_ignored.single.html
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