According to state legal journal the West Virginia Record, Benjamin Mullens claimed he received serious and extensive head and facial injuries in a June 2009 rock fall at the Independence Coal complex, then owned by Massey Energy.
He filed a complaint in June 2011 in Boone Circuit Court arguing that the defendants, Massey and Independence Coal, had exposed him to unsafe conditions while he was working in a coal feeder dump truck “under a rock wall without shield protection” in violation of state and federal safety regulations.
Now, the Record said, by agreement of both sides, a mediation of the matter has been set for July 31 at the Ranson Law Offices in Madison. James Lamp will serve as mediator, according to a June 13 filing in the Boone court system.
Mullens is seeking jury judgment jointly and severally to set compensatory damages and award court costs, as well as attorney fees and any other relief the court finds equitable.
The plaintiff in the case, known formally as 11-C-114, is being represented by J Michael Ranson, Cynthia Ranson and George Morrone III of Ranson Law Offices and G Patrick Jacobs of Jacobs Law Office.
The defendants are represented by Christopher Pence of Hardy Pence.
The case has been assigned to circuit judge William Thompson.
Massey Energy and the Independence subsidiary were taken over by Alpha Natural Resources in June 2011.
