Background
In the 1990s, miners worked for Apogee Coal Company, a subsidiary of Arch Resources, Inc., which self-insured against black-lung claims under Section 30 United States Code Section 933 subsection a. Arch sold Apogee and its liabilities to Magnum Coal in 2005, which was later acquired by Patriot Coal. When Patriot went bankrupt in 2015, the Department of Labor instructed district directors to hold Arch liable as the responsible insurer for claims accrued during its ownership. Miners applied for benefits between 2015 and 2017, and administrative law judges affirmed the directors’ decisions naming Arch liable. Arch appealed, arguing it was no longer obligated after the 2005 sale.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviews the Board’s legal conclusions de novo. Petitioners argued the Board erred in holding Arch liable, but Arch and Apogee conceded they were making the same arguments based on materially identical facts that the court rejected in a published decision two years prior. The court noted that the prior decision, Apogee Coal Co., LLC v. Director, OWCP, 112 F.4th 343, 353 through 357, binds the court. Consequently, the court must deny the petitions.
What it means going forward
The ruling confirms that a parent corporation remains liable for black-lung benefits accrued during its ownership of a subsidiary, even after selling the subsidiary, when the arguments against such liability have already been settled by binding precedent.