Mining Companies Fail to Undo Worker Layoff Notice Win on Appeal

Workers provided enough evidence to support their jury victory in a lawsuit alleging five mining companies acted as a single employer and failed to warn them of an impending layoff, an appeals court said Friday.

The lead plaintiff “introduced multiple pieces of evidence that cumulatively gave the jury enough to conclude” that Bluestone Industries Inc. and the other companies “lacked independence and functionally operated as the same employer,” the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said. The court also rejected the companies’ request for a new trial based on a challenged jury instruction.

Jules Gautier sued under ...