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Patriot Coal VEBA trust, retirees seek official committee appointment
By Caroline Salls
Pittsburgh, June 10 – Members of a Patriot Coal Corp. non-union retiree trust and some retirees asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to appoint an official retiree committee for the company’s Chapter 11 case, according to a June 9 court filing.
Specifically, the committee appointment motion was made by the Patriot Non-Union Retiree Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) and retirees John Wills, Jim Gillenwater, John Knab and Liz Wills.
According to the motion, a non-union retirees committee was appointed in Patriot’s previous bankruptcy case.
The committee negotiated a final resolution that provided for a lump sum payment to the committee for the express purpose of setting up and administering a VEBA trust to continue to provide health care insurance benefits to the affected retirees.
As part of that settlement, the trust and retirees said there were also ongoing funding obligations to pay monthly benefits to the VEBA.
Now, the trust and retirees said Patriot has announced its intention to terminate or modify remaining retiree benefits. Under its debtor-in-possession financing agreement, the company must reach a resolution with regard to its retiree obligations by Aug. 1 or obtain relief from its obligations by Oct. 1.
As a result, the trust and retirees said a non-union retiree committee must be formed to protect the rights of the retirees in the current Chapter 11 case.
A hearing is scheduled for June 23.
Patriot Coal, a Richmond, Va.-based miner, producer and seller of thermal coal, filed for bankruptcy on May 12. The Chapter 11 case number is 15-32450.
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