Blackjewel withheld $1.2 M from payroll, didn't put in 401(k)s
Bankrupt coal mine operator Blackjewel LLC has withheld $1.2 million from employees’ paychecks without depositing the funds in the workers’ retirement accounts.
The company, which suddenly shuttered two Powder River Basin mines on Monday, laying off nearly 600 workers, appears to be out of financing options that would enable continued operations. A bankruptcy judge this afternoon approved a $5 million loan deal to cover security and fire suppression. That deal is contingent upon the resignation of CEO Jeffrey Hoops.
As Hoops exits the company, worker accounts and bankruptcy filings suggest he left workers behind millions of dollars in promised retirement benefits.
Three Blackjewel employees told WyoFile that for months deductions have come out of their paychecks to go into 401(k) retirement accounts, but the money hasn’t been deposited for weeks afterwards. Other employees have made similar allegations both to Wyoming newspapers and to Gov. Mark Gordon and his staff during a Campbell County Commissioners meeting on Monday.
Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/blackjewel-withheld-1-2-m-from-payroll-didnt-put-in-401ks/