A mine worker says she was fired because she did not donate to Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray's favored GOP candidates, according to a lawsuit filed last week in a West Virginia court.
The complaint, first reported by the Charleston Gazette, claims that Jean F. Cochenour, a former Murray Energy foreman at a Marion County mine in West Virginia, received multiple letters from the CEO instructing her to donate to specific GOP candidates with strong pro-coal positions, and even included recommended donation sums for Republican Senate candidates like Scott Brown and Terri Land.
Cochenour was then fired in early May for her refusal to donate, and her for gender, she claims. She was reportedly the only female preparation plant foreman at the company.
In response to an inquiry from The Huffington Post, a spokesperson for Murray Energy called the lawsuit "baseless," "blatantly false" and "an attempt to extort money" from the company.
"Ms. Cochenour was fired because she failed to perform her job adequately," the company's statement, emailed to HuffPost, said. "Undoubtedly, her lack of management cost Murray Energy Corporation hundreds of thousands of dollars."
CEO Robert Murray has been a voracious defender of the coal industry, and his Murray Energy Corporation Political Action Committee has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars every year exclusively to Republican candidates. The lawsuit alleges that Murray has a “long history” of requiring his managers to donate to the PAC.
Murray Energy workers have previously claimed that their boss forced them to attend partisan political events without pay, including for a high-profile Romney campaign event in 2012.
"If you don't contribute, your job is at stake," an anonymous employee told The New Republic in 2012.
In the new lawsuit, Cochenour says she received such requests monthly, and that contributions had to be directly returned to Murray in a self-addressed envelope. She alleges that all managers were expected to voluntarily contribute 1 percent of their annual salary to the PAC.
State and federal election laws prohibit employers from coercing their employees to make political contributions.
You can read the lawsuit in its entirety here.
More: Mine Worker Allegedly Fired For Not Donating To GOP Candidates
Why does the coal industry keep shooting itself in the foot?
The complaint, first reported by the Charleston Gazette, claims that Jean F. Cochenour, a former Murray Energy foreman at a Marion County mine in West Virginia, received multiple letters from the CEO instructing her to donate to specific GOP candidates with strong pro-coal positions, and even included recommended donation sums for Republican Senate candidates like Scott Brown and Terri Land.
Cochenour was then fired in early May for her refusal to donate, and her for gender, she claims. She was reportedly the only female preparation plant foreman at the company.
In response to an inquiry from The Huffington Post, a spokesperson for Murray Energy called the lawsuit "baseless," "blatantly false" and "an attempt to extort money" from the company.
"Ms. Cochenour was fired because she failed to perform her job adequately," the company's statement, emailed to HuffPost, said. "Undoubtedly, her lack of management cost Murray Energy Corporation hundreds of thousands of dollars."
CEO Robert Murray has been a voracious defender of the coal industry, and his Murray Energy Corporation Political Action Committee has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars every year exclusively to Republican candidates. The lawsuit alleges that Murray has a “long history” of requiring his managers to donate to the PAC.
Murray Energy workers have previously claimed that their boss forced them to attend partisan political events without pay, including for a high-profile Romney campaign event in 2012.
"If you don't contribute, your job is at stake," an anonymous employee told The New Republic in 2012.
In the new lawsuit, Cochenour says she received such requests monthly, and that contributions had to be directly returned to Murray in a self-addressed envelope. She alleges that all managers were expected to voluntarily contribute 1 percent of their annual salary to the PAC.
State and federal election laws prohibit employers from coercing their employees to make political contributions.
You can read the lawsuit in its entirety here.
More: Mine Worker Allegedly Fired For Not Donating To GOP Candidates
Why does the coal industry keep shooting itself in the foot?
