CHARLESTON -- Two former employees are suing Walter Energy, Inc. after they claim it failed to pay them their final wages in a timely manner.
Maple Coal Co. also was named as a defendant in the suit.
In 2012, the defendants announced reductions in their employment workforce, according to a complaint filed Aug. 2 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Terry Beard and David Crawford claim they were informed on March 24 that they were laid off from work, but the defendants should have paid all wages owed by the next regular payday following the effective dates of their layoffs and failed to do so.
The defendants did not pay Beard and Crawford their final wages owed in full until April 13, according to the suit.
Beard and Crawford claim the defendants violated the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. They are being represented by Kristina Thomas Whiteaker and David L. Grubb.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Charles E. King.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-1555