Reference no: EM131655863

Using what you have learned about libel in this class, dissect this lawsuit. Clearly state the pluses and minuses of each side…explore what it will take for Murray Energy Corporation to win and explore what it will take for the New York Times to successfully defend the lawsuit. --- Murray Energy Corp. has lodged a defamation suit against The New York Times in West Virginia state court over an op-ed piece that the coal giant claims falsely states that CEO Bob Murray lied about the cause of a fatal collapse at one of the company's mines. Murray Energy and several of its affiliates announced the defamation suit Friday over an April op-ed piece by the Times' editorial board on President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony and its corporate backers, in which the newspaper said Bob Murray — a major Trump supporter — “earned infamy when he falsely insisted that the 2007 collapse of his Crandall Canyon mine, which killed six miners, was due to an earthquake, not dodgy mining practices.” In a Friday statement announcing the suit filed May 3, Murray Energy said that data shows that an earthquake triggered the 2007 collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah, which killed three additional people attempting to rescue the miners. The company noted that federal prosecutors, in filing criminal misdemeanor charges in 2012 against the Murray Energy affiliate that operated the mine, weren't able to directly connect those violations to the mine's collapse. The Times op-ed also falsely implies that Murray Energy has a checkered safety record by calling it “a serial violator of federal health and safety rules,” according to the complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Marshall County, West Virginia, home to one of the company's coal mines. “The New York Times also made no attempt to provide a full portrayal of Murray Energy's true safety record,” Murray Energy said. “Nor did The New York Times make any mention of Murray Energy's efforts toward ensuring mine safety. Indeed, The New York Times did not even call Mr. Murray or anyone at the Murray Energy organization to fact check any of its false statements.” Murray Energy, which claims the op-ed has damaged its reputation and will damage its business, suggested that the Times editorial board's support of Trump's election opponent Hillary Clinton, who once stated that her policy agenda would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business,” may have played a role in how it wrote the op-ed. “Murray Energy instituted this suit, in part, in attempt to ensure that such an agenda is not furthered by The New York Times' false and defamatory statements,” the company said in its statement Friday. Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades-Ha told Law360 Monday that the newspaper hasn't yet seen Murray Energy's suit. "However, we're confident that our editorial was accurate and we intend to defend the case vigorously," Rhoades-Ha said. In March 2012, Murray affiliate Genwal Resources Inc. pled guilty to two misdemeanor violations of federal mine safety laws at the Crandall Canyon mine that preceded the August 2007 fatal collapse and was fined $500,000. As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed not to bring any criminal charges against Genwal, its affiliates or any individuals in connection to the collapse and subsequent investigation. “Criminal laws require a very high standard. We must prove that a person knew what the law required and knowingly and willfully violated it. We also must prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah, David B. Barlow, said in a statement at the time the deal was announced. “After considering the evidence, the law, and the heavy burden of proof we must carry in court, the charges we filed today meet this high standard." In September 2012, Genwal and another Murray Energy affiliate agreed to pay $1.15 million to settle civil litigation and violations cited by the Mine Safety and Health Administration in connection with the Crandall Canyon collapse. Violations accepted by the companies in the settlement included the improper design of the mine and a failure to redesign the mine after an incident that occurred three days before the mine collapsed, according to the MSHA. “The violations contained in this settlement support MSHA’s investigation findings that the mine operators allowed conditions at Crandall Canyon to deteriorate and ignored the warning signs,” Joseph A. Main, the former assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, said in a statement on the settlement. “This was a tragedy that should never have happened.” The case is The Marshall County Coal Co. et al. v. The New York Times Co., case number 17-C-70, in the Circuit Court of Marshall County, West Virginia.