Governor Jim Justice’s family business empire may be facing another blow: Attorneys for the federal government have asked a court to hold 23 of the family’s coal companies in contempt of court for unpaid fines dating back to the past decade.
The motion was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia and first reported by Brad McElhinny of West Virginia MetroNews.
This comes as Justice, a Republican and patriarch of the family’s huge business conglomerate, is campaigning as the preferred candidate for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Joe Manchin (IW.Va.).
According to the submission and an accompanying memorandumThe Justice family companies still owe nearly $600,000 in unpaid coal mining health and safety fines, violating Settlement agreementt was made in 2020, according to which the entire debt – totaling about $5.13 million – would be repaid by March 1, 2024.
The federal government’s lawyers described the companies’ continued insolvency despite numerous reminders as a “blatant violation” of previously agreed conditions.
“The only constant in [the Justice companies’] “The reason for the frequent delay in payment is that payments are regularly made late,” write the federal prosecutors.
According to court documents, the 23 coal companies at issue in the motion have amassed “hundreds” of citations and orders since 2014 for violating the federal Mine Safety and Health Act and standards set by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
In 2019, the government filed suit against the Justice Companies to collect over $4 million in past-due fines from the previous five years. In 2020, representatives of the Justice Companies and the federal government reached a settlement. The companies agreed to pay the amounts already due, plus an additional $1.06 million for 85 MSHA citations that had accrued since the original lawsuit was filed.
Aaron Houchens, the Virginia-based attorney representing the Justice companies in the litigation, said in an emailed statement that the Justice family paid “significant” amounts as a result of the settlement.
“There remains a balance outstanding, but the organizations are obliged to pay this amount in full,” Houchens continued. “We will oppose the government’s request and look forward to resolving the matter shortly.”
Under the terms of the agreement, the Justice companies were to pay approximately $213,000 in April 2020 and then make monthly installments of $102,422 until the debt was fully paid off in March 2024. During that time, the companies repeatedly failed to pay on time and eventually stopped paying the monthly amount due, less the past-due amounts.
Last June, after months of default, the court ordered the Justice companies to pay their debts within 10 days and to settle future debts. Following that motion, the companies’ lawyers informed the federal government that they did not have the financial means to comply with the court’s order, but that they would “obtain the financial ability to do so,” according to the memorandum.
That seems to have never happened.
In dozens of emails attached to the filed memorandum dated August 14, 2023, through July 9, 2024, a legal assistant reminded the companies’ legal representatives of the debts, often multiple times and weeks after they were originally due.
In an email dated November 15, 2023, she informed Houchens that no payment had been received since October 5, 2023. The total amount owed at that time was approximately $359,000, consisting of three past-due arrears payments as well as the October and November monthly installments.
The next day Houchens replied: “[The companies] receive the shipping payment around November 22nd,” the email said. “You can then make a payment.”
According to a list attached to the memorandum, the companies made a payment of $55,221 on November 21, 2023, or half of the monthly installment due. No payments were made in December 2023. The companies also paid only half of a monthly installment in January and February 2024.
In April, companies only had to make a quarter of their monthly payments. No payments were made between April and July. Of the outstanding debt, companies only transferred $10,000 of over $589,000.
“[The companies] seem to believe that they are above the law,” the federal government’s lawyers wrote in their memorandum. “… Numerous court orders require [the companies] to comply with the agreement. But they have repeatedly failed to do so.”
The lack of payment has caused real damage, the lawyers say, because the unpaid fines for health and safety violations are a means of forcing mine operators to work within the law.
“[The companies’] “The continued evasion of their financial obligations under the Mining Act deprives these defendants – and other mining companies – of the incentive to comply with MSHA’s health and safety standards, which were created to protect the nation’s miners,” the memorandum states.
This is an evolving story.
