Hard as it is to shock me, this did.
Yesterday, the AP reported that Marlene Griffith, a widow of William Griffith, one of the 29 men killed in last week’s explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia, is suing Massey Energy, the owner of the mine. Griffith filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Raleigh County Circuit Court, arguing that Massey’s handling of work conditions at the mine plus its history of safety violations amounted to aggravated conduct that rises above the level of ordinary negligence. Marlene and here husband were to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary weeks after the deadly blast on April 5.
Indeed, as the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, the mine where William Griffith worked had been cited for over 3,000 safety violations. Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who has mocked safety regulators as being “as silly as global warming,” had gummed up the safety regulations process by filing endless appeals instead of paying fines and fixing safety problems.
Responding to the lawsuit, Nathan Coffey, the Public Affairs Coordinator of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) [a front group for Big Coal], took to Twitter yesterday to mock Marlene Griffith. Coffey posted a link to the AP story about Marlene Griffith, sarcastically commenting that “Everyone wants free money!”… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
Free? He said FREE? The loss of a life partner of 33 years is FREE?!!? It doen’t get more expensive than that!
6 Responses to “The Empathy of Massey Energy”
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Revolting. Criminal charges should be filed against Massey, and possibly against the officials who failed to enforce safety standards.
I think there is a nasty strain of difference in our degree of tolerance for such abuses based on the social class of the likely victims. We don’t hear of cases where a property-management company runs up a string of gross violations like this and then an office building blows up and kills 29 accountants. In that kind of case, the authorities would crack down before the problems reached the point of disaster.
Good point, Infidel. Appalachian coal miners have been victims of mine owners for generations.
Infidel – you’re so right. If that were to happen, could you make it Goldman please?
Disgusting. And that CEO should already be in jail. Those poor workers – like coal mining isn’t dangerous enough and this asshole doesn’t even provide basic safety. What a douche.
I second that emotion.
here is the massey trump card
“but think of all the jobs we DO supply”
nothing will come of this – nothing
before long it will be Business as usual
as for those miners – let them eat cake and breath coal dust
how sad and pathetic – and we let them get away with it
DC, as usual, you have cut to the heart of the matter, and as much I I hope you are you’re wrong, I doubt that you are.