BECKLEY – Two Richwood Industries employees are suing Coronado Coal alleging injuries.
Coronado Coal and Buchanan Minerals also were both named as defendants in the suits.
James Cline and Jonathan Stacy were employed by Richwood Industries and were contracted to perform labor services at the Buchanan Mine No. 1, according to two complaints filed in Raleigh Circuit Court.
Cline and Stacy claim they were required to install and perform maintenance on belt scrapers in the mine and that diesel-powered mantrips were utilized to traverse in, out and around the mine, which the plaintiffs were required to use.
The plaintiffs were performing their job duties in the mine on May 30, 2018, when the mantrip, operated by Cory Boyd, collided with another mantrip parked in the travel way.
Buchanan Mineral and Coronado Coal maintained a duty to the plaintiffs to ensure that the people they chose to operate mantrips were properly trained and supervised and failed to do so, according to the suits.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants were negligent in their duties and caused the plaintiffs' injuries.
Coronado "breached the duty of due care and reasonable precaution by negligently permitting the mantrip occupied by plaintiff to proceed at excessive speeds without assuring his safety and directly and proximately causing the collision," the complaints state.
The plaintiffs claim Buchanan Minerals also had a duty to exercise due care and reasonable precaution and failed to do so.
The defendants allegedly failed to properly train and supervise its employees with respect to operation and duties that those employees were required to perform for the defendants, according to the suits.
"As a direct and proximate result of the aforesaid negligence and recklessness of the defendants, plaintiff has suffered serious permanent injuries; has suffered in the past and will suffer in the future, great pain and suffering, both mental and physical in an amount to be determined by the trier of fact," the complaints state.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages. They are represented by Joshua S. Ferrell and Nathan D. Brown of Ferrell & Brown of Williamson.
Raleigh Circuit Court case numbers 20-C-6 and 20-C-13