MATTER OF WESTMORELAND COAL CO.

No. 19-20066.

968 F.3d 526 (2020)

In the MATTER OF: WESTMORELAND COAL COMPANY, et al, Debtors, Michael H. Holland, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund and United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit Plan; William P. Hobgood, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund; Michael W. Buckner, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund; Michael O. McKown, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund and United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit Plan; Joseph R. Reschini, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund and United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit Plan; Carlo Tarley, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit Plan; Carl E. Van Horn, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund; Gail R. Wilensky, as trustee for the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund, Appellants, v. Westmoreland Coal Company; Absaloka Coal, L.L.C.; Buckingham Coal Company, L.L.C.; Dakota Westmoreland Corporation; Daron Coal Company; et al, Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Filed August 4, 2020.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Bryan Michael Killian , John C. Goodchild, III , Rachel J. Mauceri , John R. Mooney , Stephanie Beth Schuster, Esq. , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Matthew C. Ziegler , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Appellants.

George W. Hicks, Jr. , Michael Francus, Kirkland & Ellis, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Stephen E. Hessler , Kirkland & Ellis, L.L.P., New York, NY, Anna Rotman , Kirkland & Ellis, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Michael Brian Slade , Gregory F. Pesce , James Sprayregen , Kirkland & Ellis, L.L.P., Chicago, IL, Matthew D. Cavenaugh , Jackson Walker, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Patricia B. Tomasco , Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Appellees.

Before Davis, Smith, and Costa, Circuit Judges.


This case involves the interaction of two laws that protect retirees' health care benefits. Passed in 1992, the Coal Act culminated decades of efforts to guarantee benefits for retired coal miners. It requires coal companies to pay premiums that fund retirees' benefits and limits interference with those obligations. Enacted...

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