BECKLEY -- A miner is suing his employer for allegedly failing to repair a shuttle car that ultimately caused him injury.
Daniel Browning filed a complaint May 27 in Raleigh Circuit Court against Alpha Natural Resources Inc. and Marfork Coal Co.
On May 27, 2014, Browning was operating a shuttle car used to transport miners that had beforehand been reported for kicking in and out of higher speeds during operation.
That night, when trying to avoid a hole in the road, "the tram sped up rather than slowing down, and the shuttle car hit the hole at such rate that the force caused the plaintiff to hit his head on the canopy of the shuttle car, and land down hard, jarring his lower back," the lawsuit states.
The defendants allegedly knew about the unsafe condition of the shuttle car, the lawsuit states, which amounts to negligence and carelessness.
The plaintiff seeks damages in excess of the court's jurisdictional limit, plus costs. He is represented by attorney Tammy Bowles Raines in Charleston.
Raleigh Circuit Court case number 15C425.