Ross Named Defendant in Sago Mine Lawsuits
But You Wouldn’t Know It Reading the New York Times and Other National Newspapers© by Mark Reutter
Posted 11/17/06
Call it news not fit for the mainstream press to print.
When relatives of miners killed at Sago Mine filed new civil lawsuits Wednesday (11/15), the plaintiffs targeted for the first time Wilbur L. Ross and W.L. Ross & Co. (WLR) as defendants for negligence and wrongful death.
The suits noted – as first reported on this website – that International Coal Group, owner of Sago Mine, had hired Ross and WLR in October 2004 to provide “advisory and management services” for a fee of $2 million a year. The lawsuits allege that Ross, “individually and/or through his agents, servants, and designees, actively participated in the provision of such ‘advisory services’ to ICG in connection with, among other projects, the operation of the Sago Mine in Upshur County, W. Va.”
The families argued that Ross and WLR “had specific knowledge of the failure of ICG to comply with safety requirements imposed by law and industry practices, including, but not limited to, approximately 288 safety violations for which the mine had been cited by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) prior to the January 2, 2006 tragedy out of which this action arises.” Full text of lawsuit.(PDF format)
These suits represent a major breakthrough in trying to find justice for the 12 miners who were forced to work in a dangerous and poorly supervised mine under a corporate culture of aggressive production targets and cost cutting.
The relationship between ICG and Ross is explored more fully in a new posting, Incestuous Dealings at Sago.
At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette filed a report on the paper’s website that, “in a new twist, the latest suits also named as a defendant, the New York billionaire who formed ICG.”
Vickie Smith, the Associated Press writer in West Virginia, sent out at 6 p.m. an article also noting that the lawsuits “add more defendants, including billionaire ICG founder Wilbur Ross and his company, W.L. Ross & Co.”
The AP article noted the consulting agreement between ICG and WLR, summarized the relatives’ allegations against Ross and WLR, and noted that “a message left for Ross late Wednesday afternoon was not immediately returned.”
The New York Times reported the story in its “National Briefs” column yesterday (11/16) under the headline “WEST VIRIGNIA: MORE FAMILIES SUE OVER MINE DISASTER.” The article used the AP report, but failed to mention that Ross and WLR were named as defendants. Instead, the Times said that “executives of the [mine] owner, International Coal Group,” and other companies were defendants.
The fact that the paper with the slogan of “All the News That’s Fit to Print” did not print the name of a prominent New Yorker who has been featured on page 1 on the Times’ Business Day section and is frequently quoted and photographed in the paper’s feature and society columns looks like sloppy journalism – or worse.
The same omission was made in USA Today. The newspaper simply printed in its 11/16 “Nationline” column that the Sago families “sued International Coal Group and other companies.”
The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post did not report on the lawsuits in their editions yesterday. Nor did the nation’s two prominent business newspapers, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, give notice to the new development.
The suits were filed by attorneys Allan N. Karlin, Robert F. Cohen Jr., Paul R. Cranston, and Kenneth M. Rodriguez, all of Morgantown, W. Va.
They represent the estates and relatives of miners James Bennett, Jerry Lee Groves, George Junior Hamner, Terry Michael Helms, and Fred G. Ware Jr., who were killed in the Sago accident.