Don Blankenship
Encyclopedia
Donald Leon "Don" Blankenship (born March 14, 1950) was Chairman and CEO
of Massey Energy
Co., the sixth largest coal
company (by 2008 production) in the United States. He served in those roles from November 30, 2000, until December 31, 2010.
Blankenship is an active financial backer of the Republican party
and participant in local and state politics, especially in his home state of West Virginia
. He has frequently spoken out publicly about politics, the environment, unions, and coal production.
He was featured in a 2005 West Virginia Public Broadcasting
documentary The Kingmaker and in the 2008 book Coal River
by Michael Shnayerson
.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show Blankenship was paid $17.8 million in 2009, the highest in the coal industry. His 2009 pay represents a $6.8 million raise over 2008 and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also received a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million in 2009.
On December 3, 2010, Blankenship announced that he was retiring as CEO at the end of the year, and would be succeeded by Massey President Baxter F. Phillips Jr..
and raised in Delorme, West Virginia
. His father served in the Korean War
, and his mother was a member of the McCoy family; they divorced soon after Don was born, and Don's mother ran a convenience store and gas station with her divorce settlement money. Three years after graduating from Matewan High School
, West Virginia
, and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marshall University
in 1972. He was the recipient of Marshall University’s “Most Distinguished Alumni” award and inducted into the Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame in 1999.
Blankenship is certified as a public accountant. In 2002, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
’ Business and Industry Hall of Fame and recognized by the West Virginia Society of CPA’s as an Outstanding Member in Business and Industry. Blankenship was also inducted into the Tug Valley Mining Institute Hall of Fame.
Blankenship joined a Massey subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in 1982. Since then he has served the company in a number of capacities. He was promoted to president of Massey Coal Services, Inc. (1989–1991), then president and chief Operating Officer from 1990 to 1991.
In 1992, Blankenship was named president, chairman of the board of A.T. Massey. He is the first non-Massey family member to be in charge of the company. When A.T. Massey was spun off from Fluor Corporation as Massey Energy in 2000, Blankenship became the newly independent company's chairman and CEO.
He also serves as a director of the Center for Energy and Economic Development, a director of the National Mining Association
, Mission West Virginia Inc, and is on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
He is divorced and lives in Rawl, West Virginia
. Blankenship has two children. His son John is a dirt track car racer.
valley, says he has a perspective that fuels his desire for change in West Virginia.
Photographs of Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard
, while Massey had a case pending before that court, have appeared in the New York Times. On Feb. 14, 2009, Blankenship told the New York Times, "I’ve been around West Virginia long enough to know that politicians don’t stay bought, particularly ones that are going to be in office for 12 years...So I would never go out and spend money to try to gain favor with a politician. Eliminating a bad politician makes sense. Electing somebody hoping he’s going to be in your favor doesn’t make any sense at all."
In 2004, Blankenship contributed $3 million to the "And For The Sake of the Kids" PAC, campaigning against the re-election of West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw
. Brent Benjamin would go on to defeat McGraw in the general election. Speaking about the election, Blankenship said, "I helped defeat a judge who had released a pedophile to work in a local school, who had driven doctors out of state, and who had cost workers their jobs for thirty plus years. I think this effort helped unchain West Virginia's economy and benefited working families." However, USA Today
called Blankenship's ads "venomous." According to a USA Today editorial dated March 3, 2009, Blankenship "has vividly illustrated how big money corrupts judicial elections. It puts justice up for sale to the highest bidder."
, Senator Harry Reid
and former Vice President Al Gore
"crazies" and "greeniacs." In the same speech, he also stated, "I don't believe climate change
is real." He associated President Jimmy Carter
's support for energy conservation
in the 1970s with communism
: "Buy a smaller car? Conserve? I have spent quite a bit of time in Russia and China, and that's the first stage."
In a letter to the editor of the Charleston (WV) Gazette
dated Oct. 30, 2009 Blankenship denied that climate change, or "global warming," existed, and stated: "Why should we trust a report by the United Nations? The United Nations includes countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran."
At a 2009 Labor Day pro-coal rally in West Virginia, Blankenship expressed his true views on the role of the federal government and state authorities in ensuring miner safety:
, himself a native West Virginian, claimed that Blankenship was "famous in West Virginia as the man who successfully bought himself a State Supreme Court Justice in 2004 and then tried to buy himself the state legislature, failing spectacularly at the latter effort." Tomasky wrote:
Michael Shnayerson
, in his book Coal River (2008), reports that no such foundation was ever set up and that Blankenship's tactics didn't help other Republicans in the state. In 2006, the $3 million that he had provided to forty Republican challengers to Democratic state legislators brought just a single victory. Although Blankenship was the primary donor to "And For the Sake of Kids," other groups, including Doctors for Justice, contributed over $1 million to ASK. Another group, Citizens for Quality Health Care, which was funded in part by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, spent over $350,000 to defeat McGraw. Meanwhile, several groups spent millions opposing Benjamin and supporting McGraw, including West Virginia Consumers for Justice and Hugh Caperton, CEO of Harmon Development Corporation.
.
Following the decision, many legal scholars disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision: "If the U.S. Supreme Court rules that an 'appearance of impropriety' such as to require recusal by a judge may be determined by forces external to the judge's own conscience...it will place our system on a slippery slope that knows no boundaries."
reported that Blankenship attacked an ABC News photographer at a Massey facility near Belfry, Kentucky
as the photographer attempted to question Blankenship about photos published in the New York Times showing Blankenship on vacation in Monaco
with West Virginia
Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard. "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot!" Blankenship stated in the video.
Following the incident, Justice Maynard lost his bid for re-election to the West Virginia Supreme Court in the West Virginia primary election.
On April 5, 2010, an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine
killed 29 miners. It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Kentucky
. In 2006, a fatal accident at Aracoma Alma
(also owned by Massey Coal Co.) was one of the explosions prompting Congress to upgrade federal mine safety laws for the first time since 1977. As Blankenship came under increased scrutiny, a Business Week article said that he has a reputation for resistance to spending money, a willingness to litigate, and to personally go into mines to persuade workers to abandon union organizing efforts. On April 12, New York State Comptroller
Thomas DiNapoli
, the sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund which holds 303,550 shares of Massey stock worth about $14.1 million, called for Blankenship to resign immediately. "Massey's cavalier attitude toward risk and callous disregard for the safety of its employees has exacted a horrible cost on dozens of hard-working miners and their loved ones," DiNapoli said in a public statement reported by Reuters
and others. "This tragedy was a failure both of risk management and effective board oversight. Blankenship must step down and make room for more responsible leadership at Massey." On April 22, Massey Energy's lead independent director Bobby R. Inman
announced that "Blankenship has the full support and confidence of the Massey Energy Board of Directors." On April 25, President Barack Obama
, Vice President Joe Biden
, and state officials paid tribute to the 29 coal miners at a memorial service in Beckley, WV
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Massey Energy
Massey Energy
Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue, it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia...
Co., the sixth largest coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
company (by 2008 production) in the United States. He served in those roles from November 30, 2000, until December 31, 2010.
Blankenship is an active financial backer of the Republican party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and participant in local and state politics, especially in his home state of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. He has frequently spoken out publicly about politics, the environment, unions, and coal production.
He was featured in a 2005 West Virginia Public Broadcasting
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
West Virginia Public Broadcasting is the Public Broadcasting Service member Non-commercial educational Public television state network in West Virginia, whose primary station is WPBY, based in Charleston, West Virginia. Its studios are located at 600 Capitol Street...
documentary The Kingmaker and in the 2008 book Coal River
Coal River (book)
Coal River: How a Few Brave Americans Took on a Powerful Company–and the Federal Government–to Save the Land They Love is a book by Michael Shnayerson....
by Michael Shnayerson
Michael Shnayerson
Michael Beahan Shnayerson is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. He is the author of several books and over 75 Vanity Fair stories since 1986. Two of his pieces for the magazine have been developed into films...
.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show Blankenship was paid $17.8 million in 2009, the highest in the coal industry. His 2009 pay represents a $6.8 million raise over 2008 and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also received a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million in 2009.
On December 3, 2010, Blankenship announced that he was retiring as CEO at the end of the year, and would be succeeded by Massey President Baxter F. Phillips Jr..
Biography
Don Blankenship was born in Stopover, KentuckyStopover, Kentucky
Stopover is an unincorporated community in Pike County, Kentucky, United States. Stopover is located at the junction of Kentucky Route 194 and Kentucky Route 2062 east of Phelps. Stopover has a post office with ZIP code 41568....
and raised in Delorme, West Virginia
Delorme, West Virginia
Delorme, also known as Edgarton, is an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. Delorme is located along the Tug Fork across from the state of Kentucky....
. His father served in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, and his mother was a member of the McCoy family; they divorced soon after Don was born, and Don's mother ran a convenience store and gas station with her divorce settlement money. Three years after graduating from Matewan High School
Matewan High School
Magnolia Matewan High School was a public high school located in Matewan, West Virginia. The school has been in a succession of four different buildings since 1914....
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marshall University
Marshall University
Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....
in 1972. He was the recipient of Marshall University’s “Most Distinguished Alumni” award and inducted into the Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame in 1999.
Blankenship is certified as a public accountant. In 2002, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Founded in 1887, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the national professional organization of Certified Public Accountants in the United States, with more than 370,000 CPA members in 128 countries in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student...
’ Business and Industry Hall of Fame and recognized by the West Virginia Society of CPA’s as an Outstanding Member in Business and Industry. Blankenship was also inducted into the Tug Valley Mining Institute Hall of Fame.
Blankenship joined a Massey subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in 1982. Since then he has served the company in a number of capacities. He was promoted to president of Massey Coal Services, Inc. (1989–1991), then president and chief Operating Officer from 1990 to 1991.
In 1992, Blankenship was named president, chairman of the board of A.T. Massey. He is the first non-Massey family member to be in charge of the company. When A.T. Massey was spun off from Fluor Corporation as Massey Energy in 2000, Blankenship became the newly independent company's chairman and CEO.
He also serves as a director of the Center for Energy and Economic Development, a director of the National Mining Association
National Mining Association
The National Mining Association , is a trade organization that lists itself as the voice of the mining industry in Washington, D.C. NMA was formed in 1995, and has more than 325 corporate members.-History:...
, Mission West Virginia Inc, and is on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
He is divorced and lives in Rawl, West Virginia
Rawl, West Virginia
Rawl is an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. Rawl is located on the Tug Fork across from Kentucky, southeast of Williamson. Rawl has a post office with ZIP code 25691....
. Blankenship has two children. His son John is a dirt track car racer.
Politics
Blankenship is an active participant in West Virginia politics. Blankenship, who grew up beside the railroad tracks in a tiny border town in the Tug Fork RiverTug Fork River
The Tug Fork is a tributary of the Big Sandy River, long, in southwestern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and eastern Kentucky in the United States. Via the Big Sandy and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River....
valley, says he has a perspective that fuels his desire for change in West Virginia.
Photographs of Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard
Spike Maynard
Elliot E. "Spike" Maynard is an American lawyer and former judge from West Virginia. In 1996 he was elected as a Democrat to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia...
, while Massey had a case pending before that court, have appeared in the New York Times. On Feb. 14, 2009, Blankenship told the New York Times, "I’ve been around West Virginia long enough to know that politicians don’t stay bought, particularly ones that are going to be in office for 12 years...So I would never go out and spend money to try to gain favor with a politician. Eliminating a bad politician makes sense. Electing somebody hoping he’s going to be in your favor doesn’t make any sense at all."
In 2004, Blankenship contributed $3 million to the "And For The Sake of the Kids" PAC, campaigning against the re-election of West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw
Warren McGraw
Warren Randolph McGraw is a lawyer, politician, and judge in West Virginia and brother to current West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw.- Personal life :...
. Brent Benjamin would go on to defeat McGraw in the general election. Speaking about the election, Blankenship said, "I helped defeat a judge who had released a pedophile to work in a local school, who had driven doctors out of state, and who had cost workers their jobs for thirty plus years. I think this effort helped unchain West Virginia's economy and benefited working families." However, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
called Blankenship's ads "venomous." According to a USA Today editorial dated March 3, 2009, Blankenship "has vividly illustrated how big money corrupts judicial elections. It puts justice up for sale to the highest bidder."
Charity
Blankenship founded Massey Energy Spousal Groups that led all charitable work for the company and its employees. The Massey website described them as providing "financial support to the Groups as they assist children, the elderly, fire departments and many other deserving individuals and programs. Projects included town and stream cleanups, school book fairs, local park improvement, senior citizen appreciation dinners and the annual Christmas Extravaganzas."Views
At a public speech to the Tug Valley Mining Institute on Nov 20, 2008, Blankenship called House Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
, Senator Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
and former Vice President Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
"crazies" and "greeniacs." In the same speech, he also stated, "I don't believe climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
is real." He associated President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's support for energy conservation
Energy conservation
Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources...
in the 1970s with communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
: "Buy a smaller car? Conserve? I have spent quite a bit of time in Russia and China, and that's the first stage."
In a letter to the editor of the Charleston (WV) Gazette
The Charleston Gazette
The Charleston Gazette is a five-day morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is published Monday through Friday mornings. On Saturday and Sunday mornings the combined Charleston Gazette-Mail is published, which is, more or less, similar to the Gazette.The Gazette was established in...
dated Oct. 30, 2009 Blankenship denied that climate change, or "global warming," existed, and stated: "Why should we trust a report by the United Nations? The United Nations includes countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran."
At a 2009 Labor Day pro-coal rally in West Virginia, Blankenship expressed his true views on the role of the federal government and state authorities in ensuring miner safety:
"We also endure a Mine Safety and Health AdministrationMine Safety and Health AdministrationThe Mine Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to enforce compliance with mandatory safety and health standards as a means to eliminate fatal accidents, to reduce...
that seeks power over coal miners versus improving their safety and their health. As someone who has overseen the mining of more coal than anyone else in the history of central Appalachia, I know that the safety and health of coal miners is my most important job. I don’t need Washington politicians to tell me that, and neither do you. But I also know — I also know Washington and state politicians have no idea how to improve miner safety. The very idea that they care more about coal miner safety than we do is as silly as global warming".
Warren McGraw
Washington political journalist Michael TomaskyMichael Tomasky
Michael Tomasky is a liberal American columnist, journalist and author. He is the editor in chief of Democracy, a special correspondent for Newsweek / The Daily Beast, a contributing editor for The American Prospect, and a contributor to The New York Review of Books.-Biography:Tomasky was born...
, himself a native West Virginian, claimed that Blankenship was "famous in West Virginia as the man who successfully bought himself a State Supreme Court Justice in 2004 and then tried to buy himself the state legislature, failing spectacularly at the latter effort." Tomasky wrote:
Michael Shnayerson
Michael Shnayerson
Michael Beahan Shnayerson is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. He is the author of several books and over 75 Vanity Fair stories since 1986. Two of his pieces for the magazine have been developed into films...
, in his book Coal River (2008), reports that no such foundation was ever set up and that Blankenship's tactics didn't help other Republicans in the state. In 2006, the $3 million that he had provided to forty Republican challengers to Democratic state legislators brought just a single victory. Although Blankenship was the primary donor to "And For the Sake of Kids," other groups, including Doctors for Justice, contributed over $1 million to ASK. Another group, Citizens for Quality Health Care, which was funded in part by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, spent over $350,000 to defeat McGraw. Meanwhile, several groups spent millions opposing Benjamin and supporting McGraw, including West Virginia Consumers for Justice and Hugh Caperton, CEO of Harmon Development Corporation.
Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co.
As of April 2010, Massey had a $77 million case pending, Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. in which a smaller coal mining company, Harman Mining, made allegations of contract interference on Massey's part. In November 2008, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear Harman Mining's appeal of the case. Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Common Cause and Public Citizen all filed briefs in the case urging the Supreme Court to throw out the West Virginia Supreme Court's decision in favor of Massey. The corporations contended that Justice Brent Benjamin was biased in the case—specifically, in favor of Massey. Blankenship made approximately $3 million in independent expenditures against McGraw, the incumbent judge in the 2004 campaign for the West Va. Supreme Court, and only contributed $1000 to Benjamin's campaign. On June 9, 2009, The New York Times opined that the case involved "egregious ethical myopia" on the part of Justice Benjamin..
Following the decision, many legal scholars disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision: "If the U.S. Supreme Court rules that an 'appearance of impropriety' such as to require recusal by a judge may be determined by forces external to the judge's own conscience...it will place our system on a slippery slope that knows no boundaries."
Photographer incident
On April 3, 2008, ABC NewsABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
reported that Blankenship attacked an ABC News photographer at a Massey facility near Belfry, Kentucky
South Williamson, Kentucky
South Williamson is an unincorporated town in the Appalachian Mountains of northeastern Pike County, Kentucky, borders with West Virginia. It is separated from Williamson, West Virginia by the Tug Fork River. The town is located 23 miles east of Pikeville, Kentucky and 28 miles southwest of...
as the photographer attempted to question Blankenship about photos published in the New York Times showing Blankenship on vacation in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
with West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard. "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot!" Blankenship stated in the video.
Following the incident, Justice Maynard lost his bid for re-election to the West Virginia Supreme Court in the West Virginia primary election.
Upper Big Branch disaster
- Main article: Upper Big Branch Mine disasterUpper Big Branch Mine disasterThe Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 about underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal . Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The explosion occurred at 3:27 pm...
On April 5, 2010, an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine
Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 about underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal . Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The explosion occurred at 3:27 pm...
killed 29 miners. It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Kentucky
Hyden, Kentucky
Hyden is a city in Leslie County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 365 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Leslie County. It is located at the junction of U.S. Route 421 and Kentucky Route 80, along the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River....
. In 2006, a fatal accident at Aracoma Alma
Aracoma Alma Mine accident
The Aracoma Alma Mine accident occurred when a conveyor belt in the Aracoma Alma Mine No. 1 at Melville in Logan County, West Virginia caught fire...
(also owned by Massey Coal Co.) was one of the explosions prompting Congress to upgrade federal mine safety laws for the first time since 1977. As Blankenship came under increased scrutiny, a Business Week article said that he has a reputation for resistance to spending money, a willingness to litigate, and to personally go into mines to persuade workers to abandon union organizing efforts. On April 12, New York State Comptroller
New York State Comptroller
The New York State Comptroller is a state cabinet officer of the U.S. state of New York. The duties of the comptroller include auditing government operations and operating the state's retirement system.-History:...
Thomas DiNapoli
Thomas DiNapoli
Thomas P. DiNapoli is the 54th Comptroller of the state of New York. He is a former state assemblyman in New York, who was appointed as New York State Comptroller on February 7, 2007. He was formerly the Chairman of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. DiNapoli is a Democrat from...
, the sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund which holds 303,550 shares of Massey stock worth about $14.1 million, called for Blankenship to resign immediately. "Massey's cavalier attitude toward risk and callous disregard for the safety of its employees has exacted a horrible cost on dozens of hard-working miners and their loved ones," DiNapoli said in a public statement reported by Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
and others. "This tragedy was a failure both of risk management and effective board oversight. Blankenship must step down and make room for more responsible leadership at Massey." On April 22, Massey Energy's lead independent director Bobby R. Inman
Bobby Ray Inman
Bobby Ray Inman is a retired United States admiral who held several influential positions in the U.S. Intelligence community.-Career:...
announced that "Blankenship has the full support and confidence of the Massey Energy Board of Directors." On April 25, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Vice President Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
, and state officials paid tribute to the 29 coal miners at a memorial service in Beckley, WV
Other
- A former employee of Blankenship, Deborah May, similarly filed a lawsuit which claimed that stress from personal abuse forced her to quit her job as Blankenship's personal maid in November 2005. The lawsuit claimed that such comparatively minor mistakes as a wrong breakfast order from McDonald's, misplaced ice cream in the freezer, and an improperly hung jacket in the closet caused difficulties with Blankenship. In June 2008, West Virginia's top court ruled that May was entitled to unemployment benefits because "the unrefuted evidence" showed that Blankenship "physically grabbed" the maid, threw food after she brought back the wrong fast-food order, and tore a tie rack and coat hanger out of a closet after she forgot to leave the hanger out for his coat. "This shocking conduct" showed May was in effect fired because she felt compelled to quit, the justices said. They said the conduct was "reminiscent of slavery and is an affront to common decency.":
- In 2005, Blankenship wrote a memo to employees telling them that maximizing coal production was more important than spending time constructing things like support beams or ventilation shafts:
- In October 2006, Grist.org, Seattle-based environmental e-magazine, chose Blankenship as "the scariest polluter in the U.S."
- When groundwater pollution from coal slurry injection by Massey Energy, began contaminating wells around Blankenship's home, Massey paid to build a water line to his home from a neighboring town. Blankenship did not offer to provide uncontaminated water to any of his neighbors.