ABINGDON, Va. — A dozen retired coal miners are suing a Buchanan County mining company, claiming the company broke its promise to provide them with health care for life.
The former miners filed suit against Jewell Smokeless Coal Corporation in Buchanan Circuit Court back in November. Those cases have now been removed to federal court in Abingdon and consolidated.
The miners include:
- George Childress
- George Crigger
- John Crigger
- Willard Hess
- Michael Horne
- James Keen
- Michael Lewis
- Randall Matney
- Steve Newberry
- Michael Prater
- Charles Wayne Pruitt
- Harry Scott
The men all say they were promised lifetime medical benefits for themselves and their dependents if they retired from the company after reaching the age of 55 and 15 years of service. Each of the miners worked for Jewell for at least 20 years, with two-thirds working more than 30 years.
The lawsuits also contain sworn affidavits from the company’s former president, former director of operations, and two former directors of human resources verifying the promise made to the miners.
The former miners say everything went according to plan for several years after they retired, with the company keeping them on employer-sponsored health insurance. Several years later, when the company was going through a corporate transition, Jewell switched from providing insurance to paying the retirees an annual subsidy to cover the cost for them to purchase insurance on the private marketplace. The former miners say that change was acceptable, as it continued guaranteed health coverage at the same level.
But in December of 2024, the company informed the men that the annual subsidy would be cut by more than half. According to the lawsuit, the company rationalized the move by saying it would bring the subsidy in line with market prices. But the miners say that the cuts combined with skyrocketing insurance rates made it impossible for them to obtain equivalent health insurance.
The lawsuits ask that each of the men be awarded $40,000, plus their legal costs and any additional relief the court deems appropriate.
Jewell has not yet filed an answer to the complaints.
