Administrative Law Judge Margaret A. Miller has ordered a Kentucky miner reinstated to his job and a coal company to pay a $30,000 fine for discriminating against a whistleblower. Judge Miller concluded last week that Cumberland River Coal Company improperly fired 52 year old Charles Scott Howard of Letcher County in May 2011 after he was injured on the job 10 months earlier. Howard challenged the dismissal, saying Cumberland River Coal and its parent company, Arch Coal, dismissed him because he publicized safety issues in the mines. Cumberland Coal and Arch Coal denied that allegation. Howard's whistleblowing activities started in March 2007, when he testified before a Congressional committee about mine safety issues. In April 2007, Howard made a video of leaking mine seals, which drew the attention of Cumberland River Coal and Arch executives. Howard sued Cumberland River Coal in May 2011 over safety issues, not long before he was fired. U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar dismissed the suit in December, saying Howard waited too long to file.
