Leeco, Inc. v. Ricky Hays and Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge WALD.

WALD, Circuit Judge:

A mine operator violates federal law if it discharges a miner in retaliation for the miner’s good faith refusal to perform work he reasonably believes to be unsafe. Congress deliberately chose to promote mine safety by protecting a miner’s right to refuse unsafe work even though the operator’s right to make personnel decisions is infringed thereby. This case raises the novel question whether a miner must first tell his employer that he will not perform the allegedly dangerous work before he can invoke the federal protection…