1. In this case, Joseph F. Yania went to discuss a business matter with John E. Bigan. Both Mr. Yania and Mr. Bigan operated separate coal strip-mining operations. While Mr. Yania was at the property, Mr. Bigan asked him to assist in starting a pump in order to drain water from one of the cut trenches. While standing at the top of one of the cut’s walls, Mr. Yania jumped into the water and drowned. The widow of Mr. Yania attempted to bring suit against Mr. Bigan for her husband’s death. The case was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1959.

Due to the fact that Mr. Yania is deceased and cannot speak as to why he jumped, I would speculate that the true reason may never be known. Mr. Yania’s widow alleges that Mr. Bigan taunted her husband and urged him to jump into the water. However, due to Mr. Yania being 33 years old and of sound mental judgment, I find this allegation hard to believe. The court case did not provide any substantial evidence that Mr. Yania …show more content…
Claim 1: The widow claimed that Mr. Bigan was responsible for her husband’s death by his spoken words. She alleged that Mr. Bignan taunted her husband with his words, which caused his wrongful …show more content…
The investigation into the blast placed blame on Massey Energy and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) inspectors. Further research of this case shows that Massey Energy was issued over 500 citations for various safety violations just one year prior to this explosion. Due to the terminated employee being a former federal mine inspector that states she was fired for bringing her complaints to a supervisor, this shows that her speech is of a previous job related duty and not as a public citizen. She was responsible for inspecting the mines and making the violations known. While I believe she would be a great candidate to deposition in legal proceedings against Massey Energy, I do not believe she would be classified as a whistleblower due to the official nature of her