Lying CEOs......
 

Following the heartbreaking news at the mine in W. VA...

hope those mine owners get sued hardcore....

What exactly would they be sued for? miscommunication?

Plus the mine has had over 200+ safety violations since that company took over.

I doubt that any official of the company involved knowingly lied to the public, the media or the families.

I think we will find out that this was a tragic situation where something was misunderstood and got out of control.

I'm sure they will sue over the violations and whether or not it was safe to reopen the mines after the holidays. The mine was just cited for violations after an inspection that ended on Dec 22.

Im not sure of all the facts, but Im sure with them saying they are going to sue its because there are a lot of emotions involved right now.

I'm sure there will be some sort of lawsuit, by at least one family. Many of them may be too grief-stricken to care. I think what happened was a crew member thought all the miners had been recovered and called to tell a waiting friend down at the church. Word spread, and well the outcome is all over the news. :(

Whether or not there is a lawsuit is often dependent on how well the company takes care of the families after the tragedy.

In this litigious society, you just know someone will sue. The company can pay for funerals, trust funds for the kids & widows, etc, etc - but that won't be enough for some people.

In my heart, I'm agreeing with Delt Alum. I highly doubt that this roller coaster of emotions was caused purposely.

It for sure was not on purpose, but already one woman has said she will sue on tv. Of course, emotions are running high so I guess we'll see.

As DeltAlum said, I don't think that anyone purposely gave false information to the miners' families.

From the news reports I've seen, the rescuers sent word that they had located the other 12 miners and were checking for vital signs. Someone took that to mean that they were alive and made a too-quick announcement. I think what made it worse is that, although those "in the know" found out within about 20 minutes that the first report wasn't 100% accurate, they waited 3 hours before telling the families that the first bit of info might not have been correct. So, for three hours, those folks were rejoicing in the news that their loved ones had survived. That's the really agonizing part to me.

I'm not a sue-happy person by any means, but I do think that those families have a right to sue the pants off that company -- not for the "miscommunication" but for the unsafe conditions at the mine. I hope that they get a ton of money for their pain and suffering and, also, that the mining company will do everything in its power to make the working conditions as safe as possible in the future.

My heart goes out to those poor families.

The thing about people in WV (I'm Pittsburgh born and raised but my daddy grew up in WV and a lot of our family lives down there) is that the money isn't going to help. These people aren't going to know what to do with it and it isn't going to help them grieve, the best thing for these families would be for the mine company to show compassion and make sure they are taken care of, not make them millionaires. There was a woman being interviewed on tv and she said "I know people think we're dumb, but we love our families." I found that statement so heartbreaking. To me it defines the people of WV (I don't think they're dumb by any means though).

I don't know -- I don't want to make light of the tragedy that occurred, but isn't it likely that the miners knew the risks and worked in the mine anyway? Of course it's not okay to run a shoddy mine operation that is riddled with violations, but I can't agree with the assertion that the families are automatically entitled to a "ton of money for their pain and suffering." If the company does have to pay out $$$ in damages and/or increased insurance rates/etc. as the result of what happened and is able to stay in business (I'm not sure how likely that is), there will be less money to actually try to make the working conditions safer. Is that a good result?

I was on my way home from Atl when I heard that the miners were found alive. I was happy as could be for those people. My family has a lot of miners in it, and that's where my families roots come from.

I find out this morning that it was just 'miscommunication'. Pathetic. I hope that the reports that miscommunicated and broke this latest and greatest story before the facts were straight get fired and never work again.

That's a pretty big mess up. Again, just another failing in media these days.

I was pretty surprised at how MSNBC was reporting everything related to the incident. When the first body was found, the reporter was told over the phone by a friend of the supposedly dead. She then on NATIONAL TV repeated that Terry Helms (forgive me if I'm incorrect) was dead. She had no conformation from any source. I don't think anyone knew what was going on, they just wanted something to say.

I was so happy when I heard that the men had survived, I honestly thought it was a miracle. Being a nurse, I knew that air those men were breathing was pretty much deadly. Guess I was right. :/

I agree with you, except for one point. It's next to impossible for a coal miner to get or afford insurance. Throw in the fact that the company had 208 safety violations last year, 46 of which were in December, and the few who do have insurance may not be eligible because of that. Sago was just bought out by another company; we can only hope that the new company will put the necessary safety improvements. Until it's known what really happened, it's all guesswork.

These aren't all "poor, uneducated rednecks" who didn't even try to get out of the mines (yes, I know that no one has said that, but it has been implied). Some of these men had college degrees (electric engineers, safety engineers, etc) which would have qualified them for megabucks elsewhere.