CLARKSBURG — Brooks Run Mining Company wants a class-action lawsuit alleging wage payment violations against it dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The complaint clearly fails to invoke the subject matter jurisdiction of the Court pursuant to U.S. code, the Oct. 5 reply in support of the motion to dismiss states.
The court document states that there is no diversity jurisdiction and, as a result, the court lacks the subject matter jurisdiction to hear the matter and the case must be dismissed.
All the plaintiffs in the class-action complaint worked for Brooks Run and were not timely paid, according to a complaint filed earlier this year in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
The plaintiffs, who are Robert McClung, Rocky Moore, James Ray and Steve Williams, claim Brooks Run Mining and William Abraham failed to timely pay them. They filed the class action because there are more than 100 employees that could be class members.
"The common issues involved in this lawsuit predominate over any separate issues that may exist among individual Plaintiffs," the complaint states.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants violated the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act.
State law requires that discharged employees be paid their wages in full no later than the next regular payday or within four business days from discharge, according to the suit. The plaintiffs were discharged on Oct. 9, 2019, and were not paid until Oct. 25, 2019.
The plaintiffs claim they were damaged by the defendants' actions.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages. They are represented by D. Adrian Hoosier II of Hoosier Law Firm in Charleston.
The defendant is represented by Billy R. Shelton of Shelton Branham & Halbert in Lexington, Ky.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 1:22-cv-00037