CLARKSBURG – A Barbour County man says Arch Resources fired him and about 100 other people without provide proper notice.
Joshua McDonald filed a potential class action lawsuit July 3 in federal court against Arch Resources Inc. doing business as Leer South Mine.
According to the complaint, McDonald was employed by Arch at multiple sites in West Virginia until he was laid off in January. On February 3, Arch terminated McDonald and about 100 other employees effective immediately.
McDonald says Arch failed to provide a 60-day WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act notice. He also says there were no “unforeseen business circumstances” that required termination of him without notice.
He also says there were “sufficient employees” affected by Arch’s actions to meet the requirements for Rule 23 concerning a class action. The complaint says a class action is the best way to handle this matter in court.
McDonald says Arch employed more than 100 full-time employees who worked more than 4,000 hours per week, and he says the “mass layoff” and/or anticipated shutdown effective February 7 resulted in “employment losses” of more than 50 employees.
He accuses Arch Resources of violating the WARN Act, and he says the company failed to pay him and others 60 days of pay and benefits owed to them. He also says he and the others are entitled to a civil penalty for each WARN Act violation.
In addition to the compensatory damages and civil penalties, McDonald also seeks liquidated damages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
McDonald is the name plaintiff in the potential class action, and he is being represented by Greg A. Hewitt of Hewitt & Salvatore in Beckley and by Anthony Majestro of Powell & Majestro in Charleston.
The Leer South Mine was closed off in January because of a fire, but it was reopened earlier last month. Two weeks after it was reopened, it was sealed again because of increased carbon monoxide levels. Core Natural Resources, which has operated the mine since the merger of CONSOL Energy and Arch Resources in January, said it could restart operations later this year.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 2:25-cv-00012
