Coal company with Eastern Kentucky mine site lays off employees
A mining company with operations in Eastern Kentucky announced layoffs earlier this month.
Clintwood JOD, LLC — a coal mining and production company with locations in Pike County and southwestern Virginia — informed some employees on March 9 they would be permanently laid off, effective immediately.
Previously, employees had been told in letters on Feb. 24 that the company was implementing a temporary furlough due to circumstances outside its control.
The letter signed by Chief Operating Officer Billy McCoy said the company hoped it could resume operations safely and legally as soon as possible.
But on March 9, another letter informed some employees that, “effective immediately, for unforeseen business circumstances outside of Clintwood JOD, LLC’s control it must permanently lay-off certain employees.”
The letters, which were posted to social media by several impacted employees, do not include more details or reasons for the layoffs, or how many employees would be impacted.
Phone call and email requests to Clintwood JOD leadership and its human resources department for comment were not immediately returned.
Cris Ritchie, the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program Inc.’s director of advancement, told the Herald-Leader the workforce development area was aware of reports of layoffs, but did not have additional information.
According to the Secretary of State’s business records, Clintwood JOD has more than 100 employees.
In Kentucky, companies with 100 or more full-time employees must provide written notice 60 days in advance of plant closings or mass layoffs. The notice requirement also applies in the instance of a closure if 50 or more people are laid off at a single site within a 30-day period. A mass layoff not the result of a closure, but impacting 33% of the workforce, is also subject to the notice requirement rule.
Closures caused by circumstances not reasonably foreseeable, as are mentioned in both furlough and layoff letters to Clintwood JOD employees, are the exception to the 60-day notice requirement.
Last month, Mountain Top Media reported a financial dispute tied to coal operations in the region had made its way to federal court.
An investment firm is accusing a mining company of fraudulently securing investments and loans while concealing financial troubles. The mining company, according to the lawsuit, had sought funding to support acquisitions of assets, including some connected to Clintwood JOD.
In 2021, Clintwood JOD had more than 165 outstanding environmental citations, fees and fines following its purchase of coal mines from a bankrupt Kentucky producer.
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