A federal judge is siding with about 100 miners who say they
were fired without first receiving a federally required 60 day warning.
According to reports, U.S. District
Judge James Jones ruling said the miners are owed damages.
The workers challenged their May 2013
dismissals. They worked at Nine Mile Mining, a unit of Southern Coal Corp.
The mine is affiliated with James C.
Justice Cos., owned by Appalachian coal billionaire Jim Justice.
Jones ordered attorneys to come up with
a settlement amount to be paid to the ex-workers.
Last month, Justice reached a $1.5
million settlement with Kentucky officials
over dozens of violations at several of his coal mines in eastern Kentucky
