Organizations Mentioned:Bluestone Coal Corp. | Bluestone Industries, Inc. | Bluestone Resources, Inc. | Pay Car Mining, Inc. | Tams Management, Inc.
By Marjorie Johnson, J.D.
The jury had ample evidence of common ownership, directors, and officers; de facto exercise of control; common personnel policies and operations; and employee uncertainty over which company employed them.
The Fourth Circuit declined to disturb a jury verdict finding that five mining companies were liable under the WARN Act for not giving their employees the requisite 60-day notice before shutting down a plant and terminating their employment. Concluding that the jury had sufficient evidence to find the companies were liable as a single employer and that the district court correctly instructed the jury about employment loss, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of their renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law and alternative motion for a new trial (Gautier v. Tams Management, Inc., No. 24-1401 (4th Cir. Jan. 2, 2026)).
Class action against several companies. This class action lawsuit was brought by a coal miner who had worked at the Burke Mountain Mine Complex (the plant) until October 2019, when the foreman told him the mine was “shut down” and “no longer in operation.” After his effective termination, he filed a putative class action against five companies—Tams Management, Inc., Pay Car Mining, Inc., Bluestone Industries, Inc., Bluestone Resources, Inc., and Bluestone Coal...
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