Worker awarded $586K in discrimination suit
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) – A judge awarded more than $586,000 in pay and benefits to a retired Consol Energy worker who had accused the company of religious discrimination.
U.S. District Judge Frederick Stamp Jr. also prohibited Consol and a former subsidiary, Consolidation Coal Co., from committing similar acts in the future.
Stamp’s recent ruling came in a 2013 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit said Beverly Butcher was forced to retire after the companies began using biometric hand scans in 2012 at a mine in Mannington.
The lawsuit said the companies refused to consider alternatives after Butcher told company officials the hand scans violated his religious beliefs.
In January, a federal jury awarded $150,000 in compensatory damages to Butcher.
Murray Energy bought Consolidation Coal in late 2014.