PHILIPPI — A Buckhannon man is suing Frontier-Kemper Constructors for injuries he sustained at the Longview Mine in 2020.
Century Mining was also named as a defendant in the suit.
In 2019, Century was contracted with Frontier-Kemper to supply a complete turn-key new service and slope portals and the construction of a 16-foot diameter raise-drilled ventilation shaft at the Longview Mine, according to a complaint filed in Barbour Circuit Court.
Jacob S. Hall claims he was employed by Frontier-Kemper as a laborer and an inexperienced red-hat apprentice miner and only had a total of nine weeks of mining experience when he was injured on April 27, 2020.
Hall claims he was assigned the task of assisting in the removal of a damaged section of the ventilation fan line and during the process, another red-hat miner on his crew hooked up his rigging to a cable on the lifting apparatus which had a loose end, which caused the wagon wheel to fall to the work deck below and strike Hall in his neck, shoulder and upper back.
The plaintiff suffered serious and permanent injuries, including a right scapular fracture, severe chest wall injury resulting in surgery, rib fractures, a right hemopneumothorax with herniation of the superior portion of his right lung, a pulmonary laceration, pulmonary contusion and transverse process fractures of the spine at T4, T5 and T6, according to the suit.
Hall claims the defendants violated West Virginia code by allowing unsafe working conditions to exist. He claims they were negligent and had a responsibility to comply with state and federal safety laws and failed to do so.
Hall is seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. He is represented by D. Blake Carter Jr., J. Ryan Stewart, and David A. Bosak of Bailey Jains & Carter in Charleston.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Shawn Nines.
Barbour Circuit Court case number: 22-C-18