FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
601 NEW JERSEY AVENUE, NW
SUITE 9500
WASHINGTON, DC 20001
May 28, 2009
SECRETARY OF LABOR, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (MSHA) v. SIDNEY COAL COMPANY |
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Docket No. KENT 2008-862 A.C. No. 15-09724-135356 |
BEFORE: Duffy, Chairman; Jordan, Young, and Cohen, Commissioners
ORDER
BY THE COMMISSION:
This matter arises under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. (2006) (“Mine Act”). On April 17, 2008, the Commission received from Sidney Coal Company (“Sidney Coal”) a motion made by counsel to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order of the Commission pursuant to section 105(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 815(a).
Under section 105(a) of the Mine Act, an operator who wishes to contest a proposed penalty must notify the Secretary of Labor no later than 30 days after receiving the proposed penalty assessment. If the operator fails to notify the Secretary, the proposed penalty assessment is deemed a final order of the Commission. 30 U.S.C. § 815(a).
On January 8, 2008, the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration
(“MSHA”) issued Proposed Assessment No. 000135356 to Sidney Coal, proposing penalties for
eleven citations and orders that had been issued to the company in September and December
2007. According to Sidney Coal, it contested four of the violations in a notice of contest
docketed as Nos. KENT 2008-52 through KENT 2008-55, which have been stayed pending the
assessment of a proposed penalty. Sidney Coal asserts that the company’s safety director faxed
the proposed assessment to its attorneys but that they have no record of having received the
document. It explains that due to an undetected mechanical failure beyond its control, the
proposed assessment was not contested. Sidney Coal states that it always intended to contest the
proposed assessments associated with the four orders it previously contested and requests the
Commission to grant its request to reopen the proposed assessment.
The Secretary states that she does not oppose Sidney Coal’s request to reopen the
proposed penalty assessment.
We have held that in appropriate circumstances, we possess jurisdiction to reopen uncontested assessments that have become final Commission orders under section 105(a). Jim Walter Res., Inc., 15 FMSHRC 782, 786-89 (May 1993) (“JWR”). In evaluating requests to reopen final section 105(a) orders, the Commission has found guidance in Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure under which, for example, a party could be entitled to relief from a final order of the Commission on the basis of inadvertence or mistake. See 29 C.F.R. § 2700.1(b) (“the Commission and its Judges shall be guided so far as practicable by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure”); JWR, 15 FMSHRC at 787. We have also observed that default is a harsh remedy and that, if the defaulting party can make a showing of good cause for a failure to timely respond, the case may be reopened and appropriate proceedings on the merits permitted. See Coal Prep. Servs., Inc., 17 FMSHRC 1529, 1530 (Sept. 1995).
Having reviewed Sidney Coal’s motion, in the interests of justice, we remand this matter
to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for a determination of whether good cause exists for
Sidney Coal’s failure to timely contest the penalty proposal and whether relief from the final
order should be granted. We also direct the judge to determine what, if any, backup system
Sidney Coal and its counsel had in case of a mechanical or other failure in faxing a document
and whether the operator intended to contest four or six proposed penalties. If it is determined
that relief from the final order is appropriate, this case shall proceed pursuant to the Mine Act
and the Commission’s Procedural Rules, 29 C.F.R. Part 2700.
____________________________________
Michael F. Duffy, Chairman
____________________________________
Mary Lu Jordan, Commissioner
____________________________________
Michael G. Young, Commissioner
____________________________________
Robert F. Cohen, Jr., Commissioner
Distribution:
Sarah Ghiz Korwan, Esq.
Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP
P. O. Box 11887
900 Lee Street, Suite 600
Charleston, WV 25339
W. Christian Schumann, Esq.
Office of the Solicitor
U.S. Department of Labor
1100 Wilson Blvd., Room 2220
Arlington, VA 22209-2296
Myra James, Chief
Office of Civil Penalty Compliance
MSHA
U.S. Dept. Of Labor
1100 Wilson Blvd., 25th Floor
Arlington, VA 22209-3939
Chief Administrative Law Judge Robert J. Lesnick
Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission
601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 9500
Washington, D.C. 20001-2021