March 24, 2025 - Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection appears to become just a stopgap for Corsa Coal. The Canadian corporation with its U.S. subsidiaries headquartered in Friedens, Somerset County, has notified its workers of mass layoffs in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The bankruptcy case was jointly administered with Wilson Creek Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Corsa Coal. On March 13, Wilson Creek Energy's legal counsel notified the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry of the WARN Act notifications to its more than 330 employees in Pennsylvania and nearly 100 workers in Maryland about mass layoffs, according to Strauss Borrelli PLLC, a law firm out of Chicago, Illinois.

In the notification, attorney Michael Roeschenthaler of Raines Feldman Littrell LLP, of Pittsburgh, wrote, "In connection of their 11 Chapter cases, the Debtors issued WARN Act notices to their employees on March 12, 2025."

The represented debtors include Wilson Creek Energy LLC, Wilson Creek Holdings Inc., Maryland Energy Resources LLC, Roxcoal Inc., PBS Coal Inc., Quecreek Mining Inc., Minecorp Acquisition Corp., Minecorp Inc., Croner Inc., Elk Lick Energy Inc. and Corsa Coal Corp., according to Roeschenthaler.

A federal law, known as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988 helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs. It requires certain employers, of which it appears Corsa Coal qualifies, to notify their employees, representatives and certain government parties in writing, at least 60 days before a plant closes or mass layoff takes effect.

How Many Facilities Did Corsa Coal Operate in Somerset County?

Corsa currently operates four mines in the county – Horning and Acosta, deep mines, and Schrock Run Extension and Rhoads surface mines, and received a permit for Keyser mine in Boswell. The company also has two preparation plant facilities in Somerset County, with load-outs on the Norfolk Southern and CSX railway lines.

A legal process, Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows businesses to reorganize finances, continue operations and develop a plan to repay creditors over time.

Last week, Corsa Coal auctioned itself off to the highest bidders, paused the sales, invited a liquidation company to appraise its equipment and submitted a layoff notice for its hundreds of employees working below and above ground in Somerset County.

Timeline

- Corsa Coal, along with its subsidiaries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 6, 2025. 

- The company intended to conduct a sale of assets through a structured process within the Chapter 11 framework. 

- Corsa Coal held an auction, and bids were submitted for various assets. 

- The sale process was paused after bids were received, at the request of creditors for a separate equipment liquidation sale.

- Corsa Coal brought in a liquidation company to appraise its equipment. 

- Corsa Coal submitted a layoff notice March 12 for its 332 employees, scheduled to take place on March 28. A federal bankruptcy judge in Johnstown is set to weigh the bids submitted this week.

- An attorney for the debtors informed Pennsylvania Labor and Industry about the issuance of WARN Act notifications to employees.

Possible Lawsuit

Strauss Borrelli, a class action law firm, on its website, said, "We are investigating whether Corsa Coal failed to provide at least 60 days’ notice before laying off 332 employees in Pennsylvania and 93 employees in Maryland and therefore violated the WARN Act."

According to the act, the 60-day notice allows the impact of the sudden job loss on workers and communities to be lessened with sufficient time for moves to new jobs and the municipality to work with the change in the tax base.

The federal law indicates a business that violates the WARN Act will have to pay employees back pay and benefits if it violates the 60-day notice.

Rosebud Mining

One of the bidders at the auction was Rosebud Mining, an independent mining and metals company based out of Kittanning, Armstrong County, which operates over 30 mines in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The mining company operates an underground coal mine, Mine 78, in Paint Township in the county.

The Daily American has reached out to Corsa Coal, Strauss Borrelli and Rosebud Mining, but did not receive replies by press time.