GRAFTON – A Virginia man injured while working at a mining complex in Taylor County alleges his injuries were caused by the owner's negligence.
Robert Copeland filed a complaint in Taylor Circuit Court against ICG Tygart Valley LLC, doing business as ACI Tygart Valley, subsidiary of Arch Coal, alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Nov. 23, 2016, the defendant hired his employer, Mountaineer Resources Inc., to remove and replace steel plates from its coal bin chute at Leer Mine Complex in Taylor County.
However, one of the supervisors of the defendant directed Mountaineer to speed up the process with a different removal method despite warning from plaintiff's employer against the risky method. The plaintiff alleges he was working on a ladder in the chute when he was knocked off to the bottom of the chute, causing him to suffer traumatic brain injury and injuries to the leg, cervical and lumbar regions.
The plaintiff holds ICG Tygart Valley LLC responsible because the defendant allegedly chose a method of removal that created a substantial risk of injury to Mountaineer's employees and that the method was negligent and careless.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendants for compensatory damages, interest, and all other relief as the court may deem just. He is represented by Ryan Flanigan and Paige Flanigan of The Flanigan Law Office in Princeton and William Flanigan of Sanders, Austin & Flanigan in Princeton.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Alan D. Moats.
Taylor Circuit Court case number 18-C-23