Mining firms move to oppose mega class action

While thousands of former and current coal miners have joined a class action against companies relating to occupational lung diseases, Richard Spoor’s law firm says the companies have signalled they plan to oppose the certification application. Richard Spoor Incorporated (RSI) last week said its class action against coal companies had been bolstered by thousands of former and current mine workers joining its ranks, and it estimated that hundreds of thousands could eventually take part. The Daily Maverick reports that RSI spearheaded a historic $260m settlement on behalf of gold miners who contracted the incurable lung disease silicosis from inhaling silica dust. RSI last year filed papers against South32 Group, BHP Billiton, Seriti Power, Exxaro Group, the Anglo American Group and Glencore, alleging they had not taken the necessary precautions to protect workers from coal mine dust lung diseases. ‘In our historic R5bn settlement in the silicosis case, an estimated 15 000 to 500 000 gold miners were part of the class action. If the coal class action follows a similar trajectory, the number of affected workers could potentially be in the hundreds of thousands again,’ said RSI director George Kahn.

The company said all parties have filed notices of intention to oppose the certification application. DM’s request for confirmation or comment on this from three of the four companies in this time zone was not answered before publication. Glencore said it would not comment. Richard Spoor confirmed that the gold companies involved in the silicosis class action also initially filed notices of intention to oppose the certification application. The RSI class action goes back to March 1965 and it seeks compensation for negligence from the apartheid era when profits meant more than black lives.

Full Daily Maverick report