Massey Energy settles lawsuit filed by family of W.Va. coal miner killed in 2008 accident

Massey settles lawsuit over miner’s death in 2008

MADISON, W.Va. — Massey Energy has settled a lawsuit filed by the family of a contract worker killed at one of the company’s West Virginia coal mines.

Boone County Circuit Court records show Massey paid the family of Steven Cain $2.1 million. Cain died in an accident at Massey’s Justice No. 1 mine in October 2008.

Government investigators concluded Cain, who had just a few months of mining experience, was crushed to death between an underground railroad car and the wall of the Boone County mine.

Virginia-based Massey owns the Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, where 29 men died and two were injured in an April 5 explosion. The blast is the subject of civil and criminal investigations.

Massey operates mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.