Coal CEO requests health benefits for black lung disease he opposed

[Barricade]

Robert Murray, a coal CEO who for decades ran the nation's largest privately held coal mining company, has filed to obtain benefits from the Labor Department for black lung disease, according to a report from The Ohio Valley Resource and West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPR). 

The request is notable because Murray, the former CEO and president of Murray Energy, for years opposed regulations aimed at making mining safer for workers, and that were intended to prevent people from getting the disease.

Ohio Valley Research, which is a regional journalism collaborative that is supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, reported that Murray has submitted the initial paperwork to the federal government to obtain worker compensation benefits for black lung.

"I founded the company and created 8,000 jobs there until the move to end coal use. I am still chairman of the board," he wrote on his application. "We're in bankruptcy, and due to my health could not handle the president and CEO job any longer."

Murray, 80, wrote in his claim that he heavily relies on an oxygen tank and is "near death."

When reached by The Ohio Valley Resource for comment on his claim, Murray reportedly threatened to sue if a story was published indicating he had fought federal regulations and benefits.

https://thehill.com/regulation/energy-environment/519173-former-energy-ceo-requests-health-benefits-for-disease-he


Maybe let the families of his former employees who got black lung decide if he deserves it.

[Pop Daddy]

He paid into the fund, so why shouldn't he be able to get the benefits if his illness is job related?  I'm against the payroll tax, but I paid into it so I get the benefits.  I'm also against the federal income tax and every other tax.  I am forced to pay these taxes, just like Murray was forced to pay into the fund.  No difference.  And no, it's not up to the families who have a member with black lung to have any say in who gets paid.

I might have missed the pictures, but I don't seem to recall anyone with a gun to their head to go into those mines.  It was a job that paid better than flipping hamburgers, they made a choice.  It's called life, and no one gets out alive. 

If you think your job might kill you, find something else to do and quit bitching.