Bluestone Coke Failed to Provide Coal Plant Workers Advance Notice Before Layoffs, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action claims Alabama coal plant Bluestone Resources, Inc. and subsidiaries Bluestone Coke and Bluestone Coal Corporation failed to give employees at least 60 days’ advance notice prior to a series of layoffs in 2021.

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According to the eight-page lawsuit, defendant Bluestone Coke operates a Birmingham, Alabama-based facility that produces metallurgical coke—a grade of coal used in the steelmaking process. On October 24, 2021, the company announced a purportedly temporary layoff of at least 20 employees while the coke plant “underwent improvements,” the suit relays.

Per the case, at least 60 more employees were laid off on November 12 of that year when the facility ceased all operations.

“In total, Bluestone Coke laid off over 80 employees within a 30-day period,” the complaint shares. “This was at least 33 percent of the employees at the Birmingham, Alabama facility.”

The filing alleges that by failing to provide timely notice to workers prior to laying them off, Bluestone Coke violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

As the lawsuit tells it, days after the second round of layoffs in November, Bluestone Coke sent a letter to a union that represents its employees, claiming that “[the company] was working through the permitting process and anticipated that the plant would be back in operation in early 2022.” However, as of the date of the filing, the facility has not resumed production, nor have any laid-off employees been asked to return to work, the case states.

According to Pro Publica, the Jefferson County Department of Health in August 2021 took action against Bluestone Coke over alleged violations of air pollution regulations and denied the plant’s request to renew its operating permit. According to a proposed consent decree filed in December 2022 in the county court, the owner of the plant, the family of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, agreed to pay a $925,000 penalty in connection with the allegation that the company’s failure to perform timely and critical maintenance repairs caused the release of significant toxic air pollution into surrounding neighborhoods.

“Because of the scope of repairs needed, the plant, which for more than a century has processed coal into a fuel called coke, has been idle since October 2021,” reports relay. “Bluestone [Coke] will be able to work toward reopening the plant once a judge signs off on the deal.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone employed on a full-time basis at Bluestone Coke who was laid off between August 15, 2021 and November 15, 2021.

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