FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES

1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 520N

Washington, DC 20004

 

May 11, 2016

SECRETARY OF LABOR

   MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH  

   ADMINISTRATION (MSHA),

                              Petitioner,

 

                        v.

 

DOMINION COAL CORPORATION,

                              Respondent.

 

 

CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDING

 

Docket No. VA 2015-285

 

 

 

 

Mine:  Dominion No. 7

Mine ID: 44-06499

 

ORDER APPROVING SETTLEMENT

AND

ORDER TO PAY

 

Before:  Judge Feldman

 

This proceeding is before me based upon a petition for assessment of civil penalty filed pursuant to section 105(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (the Act).            30 U.S.C. § 815(d).  The Secretary proposed a civil penalty of $12,500.00 on July 24, 2015, following a determination in Docket No. VA 2014-233 that Dominion Coal Corp. (“Dominion”) violated the anti-discrimination provisions of section 105(c) of the Act.  This finding of liability was predicated on Dominion’s reduction in the pay of Scott G. McGlothlin after he had initiated the application process for Part 90 protection available to miners suffering from pneumoconiosis.  McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corp., 37 FMSHRC 1256 (June 2015) (ALJ).  The Commission, in essence, affirmed the finding of Dominion’s liability for violation of section 105(c) of the Act.  38 FMSHRC __, slip op. (Mar. 30, 2016).  Dominion now represents that it has agreed to withdraw its contest of the proposed penalty and pay the $12,500.00 civil penalty proposed by the Secretary. 

 

I have considered the representations and documentation submitted in this matter and I conclude that the proffered settlement terms are appropriate under the criteria set forth in Section 110(i) of the Act.  Accordingly, Dominion Coal Corp. IS ORDERED to pay the proposed $12,500.00 civil penalty within 30 days of the date of this Order.[1]  Upon receipt of timely payment, the captioned civil penalty matter IS DISMISSED.  

 

 

 

/s/ Jerold Feldman

Jerold Feldman

                                                                        Administrative Law Judge

 

 

Distribution:

 

Pollyanna E.F. Hampton, Esq., U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, 201 12th Street South, Suite 401, Arlington, VA 22202

 

David J. Hardy, Esq., Hardy Pence PLLC, 500 Lee Street East, Suite 701, P.O. Box 2548, Charleston, WV 25329

 

/acp


[1] Payment should be sent to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Payment Office, P.O. Box 790390, St. Louis, MO  63179-0390.  Please include the Docket No. and A.C. No. noted in the above caption on the check.