FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE

1331 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., N.W., SUITE 520N

WASHINGTON, DC 20004-1710

TELEPHONE: 202-434-9900 / FAX: 202-434-9949

December 12, 2023

ORDER OF TEMPORARY REINSTATEMENT

Before: Judge Sullivan

This case is before me upon an Application for Temporary Reinstatement filed by the 

Secretary of Labor pursuant to section 105(c)(2) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 

1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801, et seq., and 29 C.F.R. § 2700.45. On December 1, 2023, the Secretary 

filed the Application on behalf of miner and designated Miners’ Representative Samuel 

Coleman (“Complainant”) seeking his reinstatement to his former positions of Underground 

Belt Repairman and Miners’ Representative at the No. 7 Mine of Warrior Met Coal, LLC 

(“Respondent”). The certificate of service states that the Application was served on 

Respondents by e-mail that same day. The Application also satisfies the other procedural 

requirements of Commission Rule 45(b) as it timely “states the Secretary’s finding that the 

miner’s discrimination complaint was not frivolously brought[,] accompanied by an affidavit 

setting forth the Secretary’s reasons supporting his finding[,] and includes a copy of the miner’s 

complaint to the Secretary . . . .” 29 C.F.R. § 2700.45(b).1

Commission Procedural Rule 45(d) provided Respondent with the right to, within 10 

days of receipt of the Application, request an expedited hearing on the Application. See 29 

C.F.R. § 2700.45(d). Respondent elected not to do so.

Section 105(c)(1) of the Mine Act provides that “[n]o person shall discharge . . . any 

miner . . . because such miner . . . has filed or made a complaint under or related to this Act, 

including a complaint notifying the operator . . . of an alleged danger or safety or health 

violation in a . . . mine . . . .” 30 U.S.C. § 815(c)(1). In the Application, as supported by her

investigator’s sworn declaration (Exhibit A thereto), the following unrebutted allegations of the 

1 The Discrimination Complaint (“Complaint”) filed with the Secretary’s Mine Safety 

and Health Administration by the Complainant is dated October 31, 2023, thus well within 60 

days of the Complainant’s October 30 termination of employment. See 30 U.S.C. § 815(c)(2).

SECRETARY OF LABOR

 MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH 

 ADMINISTRATION (MSHA), 

 on behalf of SAMUEL COLEMAN,

 Complainant

v.

WARRIOR MET COAL MINING, LLC, 

 Respondent

TEMPORARY REINSTATEMENT

Docket No. SE 2024-0060

MSHA Case No. SE-MD-24-03

Mine: No. 7 Mine

Mine ID: 01-01401
Secretary establish the Complaint to her as having been not frivolously brought under sections 

105(c)(1) and (2):

(1) Before his employment was terminated on October 30, 2023, Complainant had worked 

for Respondent as an underground coal miner for over four years.

(2) In May 2023, the miners at the No. 7 Mine, pursuant to 30 C.F.R. § 40, designated 

Complainant as their Miner’s Representative for purposes of the Mine Act. 

(3) On October 17, 2023, Zachiah Mann, an underground miner at the No. 7 Mine, reported 

to Complainant that Mann’s supervisor, Neil Almacen, had removed danger tape where 

timbers were down and had instructed Mann to remove rocks underneath a moving belt. 

Mann informed Complainant that he refused to do so and alleged that he was terminated 

for complaining to Almacen about those safety issues.

(4) Complainant, in his role as designated Miners’ Representative, questioned Almacen 

about Mann’s account of events. Almacen responded that “Mann walked off the job and I 

fired his ass.” Complainant informed Almacen that he would inspect the area that Mann

had complained about, and that if the problems had not been corrected, there would be a 

safety issue.

(5) Complainant also told Almacen that he had seen him traveling through the mine without 

required reflective clothing.

(6) The following day, October 18, Complainant was suspended by Respondent’s Human 

Resources Representative, Sally Brown, on Almacen’s allegation to upper management 

that Complainant had told Almacen that “someone was going to beat [his] ass.” On 

October 30, Respondent terminated Complainant, on the purported ground of 

insubordination. 

There being no opposition to the Application, I agree with the Secretary that it establishes 

the Complaint to have been “not frivolously brought.” See Jim Walters Res., Inc. v. FMSHRC, 

920 F.2d 738, 747 (11th Cir. 1990) (relying upon Mine Act legislative history and the Supreme 

Court’s treatment of a similar whistleblower protection provision to conclude that the “not 

frivolously brought” standard is the equivalent of a “reasonable cause to believe” standard and is 

met when a miner’s “complaint appears to have merit”). Accordingly, the Application is 

granted. I reach no conclusion beyond that regarding the merits of the Complaint.

ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that SAMUEL COLEMAN be immediately

TEMPORARILY REINSTATED to his former positions at the No. 7 Mine at his former rate 

of pay, overtime, and all benefits he was receiving at the time of his termination. 
3 

This Order SHALL remain in effect until such time as there is a final determination in 

this matter by hearing and decision, approval of settlement, or other order of this court or the 

Commission. 

I retain jurisdiction over this temporary reinstatement proceeding. 29 C.F.R. 

§ 2700.45(e)(4). The Secretary SHALL provide a report on the status of the underlying 

discrimination complaint no later than January 29, 2024.

2

 Counsel for the Secretary SHALL

also immediately notify my office of any settlement or of any determination that the 

Respondent did not violate Section 105(c) of the Act. 

WHEREFORE, the Application is GRANTED, and it is ORDERED that reinstatement 

shall remain in effect until such time that the Secretary provides notification that he will not be 

bringing a discrimination case in chief on behalf of the Complainant, or such a case is brought 

and there is a final determination on it by decision, approval of settlement, or other order of this 

court or the Commission. I retain jurisdiction over this temporary reinstatement proceeding for 

such purposes as are necessary, as provided by 29 C.F.R. § 2700.45(e)(4).

WHEREFORE, the Secretary is further ORDERED to provide an update regarding the 

status of the Secretary’s investigation of the Complaint no later than January 29, 2024.

John T. Sullivan

Administrative Law Judge

Distribution: 

Colleen E. Howard & Jean C. Abreu, Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, 61 

Forsyth Street, S.W., Room 7T10, Atlanta, GA 30303 (howard.colleen.e@dol.gov) 

(Abreu.jean.c@dol.gov) 

Atlanta Docket (atl.fedcourt@dol.gov) 

W. Brock Phillips & John B. Holmes, III, MAYNARD NEXSEN, P.C., 1901 Sixth Avenue 

North, Suite 1700, Birmingham, AL 35203 (bphillips@maynardnexsen.com) 

(JHolmes@maynardnexsen.com) 

Samuel Coleman (bubbacoleman85@gmail.com) 

2 Section 105(c)(3) of the Act directs the Secretary to notify a complainant whether a 

section 105(c) violation occurred within 90 days of the filing of a complaint. 30 U.S.C. 

§ 815(c)(3).