Opinion ID: 2362143
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: As a general rule, a party cannot contract away liability for damages caused by that party's failure to comply with a duty imposed by a safety statute. This case presents the question of whether this general rule applies to void a liability-shifting clause in a contract between parties to a coal mining agreement where one side claims economic damages resulting from the other's failure to comply with statutory mine-mapping duties presumably imposed to further mine safety. We find that the clause was clearly written as part of an arm's-length transaction between two sophisticated parties who actually shared the statutory mapping duties. Since there was no apparent gross imbalance of bargaining power, we see no reason to invalidate the exculpatory clause, which clearly bars the claims of Cumberland Valley Contractors, Inc., and its assignee, Del Rio, Inc. This case also presents a procedural issue in which we hold that the Court of Appeals properly declined to dismiss Bell County Coal Corporation's initial appeal.