Under the leadership of CEO Don Blankenship, Massey went from a family-operated company to a corporation with 150 mines with revenues of \(\$ 2.6\) billion. That growth came in response to Mr. Blankenship's demands and leadership style. He required hourly faxes of production reports from the coal mines. \({ }^{324} \mathrm{Mr}\). Blankenship was demanding, often reacting with anger. In a deposition in a lawsuit involving unemployment benefits, Mr. Blankenship's maid, Deborah May, testified that Mr. Blankenship grabbed her by the wrist and gave her a lecture because she had purchased the wrong meat in his McDonald's breakfast. One court of appeals justice referred to him as someone whose presence seemed to say, "Bully." \({ }^{325} \mathrm{He}\) was also described as "arrogant," "micromanaging," and "rude and insulting." 326 He earned \(\$ 17.8\) million in 2009 , the year before the mine explosion, by doing what he called getting miners to mine coal the Massey way. Also, known for his staff reductions as he came up through the ranks, employees were fearful that if they did not produce that they would lose their jobs. And Mr. Blankenship made it clear that there were plenty of laborers who could be used to replace those employees who pushed back on production or safety issues.

Mr. Blankenship was also politically powerful in West Virginia. Some even theorize that he packed the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals through political clout in order to influence the court's review of a case by a competitor, a case in which the competitor won a \(\$ 50\) million verdict. The West Virginia Supreme Court reversed the decision on the grounds that the forum selection clause should have been honored and the case heard in Virginia, not West Virginia. \({ }^{327}\) However, the case ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court where the reversal was based on the grounds that the judge Mr. Blankenship had helped to elect should have recused himself on the appeal. \({ }^{328}\) When the case was remanded to the West Virginia court, the decision was reversed again and the forum selection clause enforced. With the requirement that the case be heard in Virginia, the plaintiff would not be entitled to a large punitive damage award because of Virginia limitations on such awards in contract actions. \({ }^{329}\)

Because of his political power, production demands, and tendency toward angry outbursts, few would question management practices. Mr. Blankenship would make on-site visits and hand out cans of Dad's root beer to employees with this admonition, "D-A-D-S stands for 'Do as Don Says" 330 In addition, those employed at the mind knew that their \(\$ 60,000\) to \(\$ 80,000\) salaries could not be replaced with any other jobs in the area. The miners were also keenly aware that other coal companies were failing as Massey was succeeding. Even those who disliked Mr. Blankenship acknowledge that he ran mines differently from all the other companies, and they attributed their jobs to those management efficiencies...........................

Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the issue of following orders at a company when those orders violate the law.
2. Explain why the conviction of the CEO is said to be an important step in corporate accountability. Why do you think the jury struggled with the case?
3. Describe the culture at Massey and the mine 4. What would have made the board stronger?
5. Make a list of additional actions that Mr. May and Mr. Blanchard could have taken in their jobs that might have prevented the explosion.