WELCH – A circuit judge has awarded the owner of a coal company nearly $31 million for a deal gone bad.
McDowell Circuit Judge Rudolph Murensky II entered the final judgment order August 20 against Stephen Moscicki and Panther Enterprises Inc. in favor of Geoff Coady, Montito Resources Corporation and Grag LLC.
The award included nearly $25 million for lost profits due to lost production from June 2023 to July 2024; more than $5 million in punitive damages; $800,000 for royalties; engineering fees and retainers, lease payments, insurance premiums and fpermit renewals; and more than $10,000 for attorney fees.
The total is $30,822,487.56 plus post-judgment interest of 8 percent until the debt is paid in full.
Earlier this summer, Murensky ruled Moscicki and Panther breached an agreement for the sale of Montito to Moscicki by not satisfactorily curing defaults, causing Coady and Montito to terminate the agreement.
In last week's order, Murensky said Moscicki and Panther “knowingly breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing” when they provided the agreement to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office to illegally obtain record ownership of Montito after having received a notice of default and notice of termination of the contract.
“These punitive damages are to punish the plaintiffs for their conduct that has harmed the defendants/counterclaimants (Coady and Montito) and to discourage the plaintiffs and others from acting the same way in the future,” Murensky wrote in his order. “It is clear that plaintiff Stephen Moscicki and plaintiff Panther Enterprises Incorporated are two sides of the same coin and the alter ego of the other that consciously conspired and deliberately pursued a common plan or design to commit tortious acts or omissions. …
“The plaintiffs acted with actual malice and with a state of mind shown by conduct that was intended to or was substantially certain to injure the defendants/counterclaimants without any just cause or excuse or with a conscious, reckless and outrageous indifferent to the health, safety and welfare of others.
“The court finds that the plaintiffs caused the defendants/counterclaimants severe actual or potential harm, that their conduct was reprehensible and that the plaintiffs knew or should have know that their actions would cause the defendants/counterclaimants harm.”
The order also mentions Moscicki, while not a named party, “was involved in a situation that led to the filing” of a $1 million lawsuit against Montito and Coady. The McDowell County jury ruled in favor of Coady and Montito in that case last summer.
The order also details the August 15 hearing in the matter in which Moscicki did not attend but was represented by attorney Kenneth E. Chittum, who asked to withdraw as counsel the previous day because hadn’t been paid by Moscicki since April and “believed he had been terminated.”
Murensky’s order also notes Moscicki’s “unilateral and self-serving attempts to distance himself from this matter by claiming he was no longer involved in this case were unavailing.”
On June 14, Murensky granted Coady and Montito’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed Moscicki and Panther’s complaint with prejudice, which means Moscicki is barring from bringing the same claim against Coady again. No appeal was filed against that June order nor was any written motion for relief.
According to Secretary of State filings, the owners of Panther Enterprises are Sean Conlon, Robin Jones and Patrick McGrath. The trio also owns Panther Resources and Blue Bear Mining, both of which are registered in West Virginia. Conlon is listed as president of the three mining companies, while Jones is listed as incorporator and McGrath is treasurer.
Records show James Phillips runs Blue Bear Mining operations. He is the plaintiff who filed the other 2023 lawsuit against Coady and Montito in which the jury ruled in favor of Coady.
Conlon is co-founder of Conlon & Co. – “a merchant bank that focuses on real estate and operating at the intersection of capital and advisory” – in Chicago along with longtime Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. The bank has offices in Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palm Beach and St. Croix.
According to Secretary of State filings, Moscicki registered a new company in May called Coal X.
According to an online search, Moscicki is listed as the director of Moscicki Property Company Ltd., The Bear Mining Group Ltd., Shelby Logistics Ltd., White Bear Resources Ltd., Carleton Lodge Developments Ltd., Gem Holdings Ltd. and UK Carbon Resolutions Ltd.
Coady and Montito are being represented by Beckley attorney Robert P. Dunlap II.
McDowell Circuit Court case number 23-C-43