U.S. Labor Department Wants Safety Director Reinstated

{Washington, D.C.}...Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a request asking for safety director Jonathan Gregory to be reinstated after an investigation found he was fired for trying to correct safety issues. If a federal judge approves the request, Gregory would get his job back while the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission considers his discrimination claim that T&T Energy LLC fired him for reporting safety issues at a Leslie County strip mine. Gregory worked with the company for 18 months before he was fired on November 7th. Freddie Fugate, a special MSHA investigator, says Gregory had several conflicts with company management. In early October, Gregory told federal and state officials that he thought a job applicant had provided false documentation about required annual training. The company's chief financial officer, Bill Woods, then told Gregory the company wouldn't discipline him for calling authorities, but that he needed to make the matter "go away." In late October, a worker fell off a bulldozer and broke his ankle. T&T Energy chief executive Tony Hamilton tried to get Gregory not to report the injury to MSHA. Hamilton and Gregory also argued about following the mine plan with respect to a 25-foot-wide bench at the base of the highwall to catch any large rocks and prevent them from falling into the pit where employees were working. On November 7th, Gregory and Hamilton argued about a rock-hauling truck Gregory had ordered removed from service. Hamilton ordered that the truck be kept on the job and said "the only time equipment was going to be repaired was between shifts and that if Gregory didn't like it, he could quit."