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Virginia’s Consumers, Workers, Small Business Owners and Their Families.
Legislators Were Not Elected Start a War on Coal Miners
HB 2011 Risks the Lives and Safety of West Virginia Workers
January 21, 2015
Charleston, W.Va. – The West Virginia Association for Justice today urged the West Virginia Legislature to reject proposed HB 2011 because the legislation provides immunity to employers who knowingly risk the lives and safety of their workers because their worksites violate governmental and industry safety standards. Under this proposal, there would be no liability even for catastrophic accidents like those at Sago, Aracoma and Upper Big Branch.
“West Virginia has a long history of industrial accidents and bad national press on employers in this state violating mandatory safety laws. Thousands of workers have been killed and injured. It is outrageous that the West Virginia Legislature would even consider passing a bill that gives employers immunity when they know they are risking the lives of their workers,” said Anthony Majestro, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“This new legislature was not elected to start a war on coal miners. Government regulations and industry safety standards are in place for a reason. They save lives. They ensure that a West Virginia worker can earn a living, be safe on the job and go home to his or her family at night. If employers are knowingly violating these codes now, resulting in accidents like UBB and Sago, what are our worksites going to be like if those employers know they can no longer be held accountable when someone is injured or killed? No worker in West Virginia will be safe.”
“Our entire justice system is based on personal responsibility. If an employer knowingly violates the law and 10 workers are killed, that person should be held accountable.”
Under current West Virginia law, all employers have a responsibility to ensure that their facilities and work sites meet written federal and state safety standards as well as written standards for that particular industry. A worker who is injured or killed on the job as the result of being exposed to known unsafe working conditions can file a deliberate intent/exposure claim. All state deliberate intent claims must meet a strict five-part test:
- A specific, unsafe working condition exists which presents risk of serious injury or death;
- The specific, unsafe working condition is a violation or contradictory to federal, state or written industry safe workplace rules and regulations;
- The employer through its management knows the unsafe working condition exists and the risks that it presents;
- The employer nevertheless exposes the employee to the unsafe working condition; and
- The employee is injured or killed.
If any one of these elements is found not to exist, there is no claim and the case fails. Given West Virginia’s long history of on-the-job injuries, particularly in the coal mines, the availability of deliberate intent claims is a crucial tool to hold companies accountable for unsafe practices.
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