Opinion ID: 396892
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: It just wasn't operating. In other words-

Text: 51 Q. I mean, do you, as the operator of the machine-well, like a pilot grounds a plane and says, nobody can fly it. Does a miner have that authority over a machine? 52 A. The miner has a right to remove himself from a machine. 53 Q. Do they have a right to say that machine will not operate until something is done to it? 54 A. It's almost like a pilot. He'll say its down, can you fix it- 55 Q. In other words, at least in your mind, you have the authority to say, this machine, something is wrong with it, and it will not mine coal until, something is done? 56 A. Yes. I won't run it until something- 57 Q. All right. Okay. I think I understand the witness. 58 Appendix at 83a-84a. Thus, it seems that Pasula was operating under the mistaken assumption that he had the authority to close down the machine totally. Yet there is no evidence on the record to support such a conclusion. Indeed, Pasula acknowledged that when he told Neal that he was not going to operate the continuous miner machine, Neal asked Fischer if he would run the continuous miner machine and that he (Pasula) did not give Fischer a chance to say anything before he interrupted and said that nobody is going to operate it. Appendix at 100a-101a. Also, three witnesses testified that they heard Fischer then state, Here I am in the middle again. Appendix at 174a (Bigley), 196a (Neal), and 220a (Humanic) (emphasis added). Furthermore, the record shows that on June 2, Fischer sought out the Mine Superintendent, FlorJancic, to explain what had happened the night before. Fischer told FlorJancic: I didn't have a chance to run that miner that night. It wasn't my fault. 9 Appendix at 238a (emphasis added). 59 The record fully supports the conclusion that Pasula was not disciplined because he refused to work but rather because he exceeded the scope of his right to walk off the job under the Mine Act. The real reason for his dismissal was that he turned off the continuous miner machine. This activity was not protected by the Mine Act. The decision of the Commission is therefore reversed. 60