The terms of a settlement between Mechel Bluestone Inc. and miners who allege they were laid off unlawfully from a Wyoming County mine in 2013 have been reached.

Before the class action settlement is finalized, federal Judge Irene Berger, Southern District Court, must approve the agreement.

If she approves the settlement, 64 miners laid off at the Double-Bonus Mine No. 65 will have the chance to receive a cash settlement or to be given priority for future Mechel Bluestone jobs.

The mediation agreement filed in federal court last month indicates the group of miners can receive $300,000. That money, minus attorney fees, will be split among the miners who opt for a cash payment. Each will receive at least $3,000, or more depending on how many take this option.

Should they choose the second option, the miners will be considered for every full-time job at Bluestone entities controlled or operated in McDowell, Wyoming, Mercer and Raleigh counties. The miners will be given priority based on seniority.

Miners who take the job option must be paid at least $28 an hour for the first year of employment.

Miners who are part of the class action lawsuit claim they were laid off between Nov. 20, 2013, and Dec. 19, 2013, in violation of the WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act).

The miners were allegedly laid off verbally, without a 60-day notice, and their medical and dental coverage was improperly terminated.

Attorneys with the Charleston-based nonprofit legal team at Mountain State Justice currently have four WARN Act cases pending against Mechel Bluestone entities — Bluestone Industries, Bluestone Coal Corp. and Keystone Industries.

More than 120 miners allege they were laid off without notice from Coal Mountain Surface Mine Number 1 in Wyoming County during the same period in 2013.

More than 50 miners allege to have been laid off illegally from Pay Car Mine located near McDowell County around October 2012.

Another 50 allege to have been laid off in violation of the WARN Act from the Burke Mountain Strip Mine near the southern border of Wyoming County around December 2011.

To bring a suit under the WARN Act, at least 50 people and 33 percent of the workers must be laid off.

Mechel Bluestone is owned by Gov. Jim Justice.

Justice sold Mechel Bluestone in 2009 to Russia’s OAO Mechel for a combination of cash and Mechel stock valued at $568 million.

He purchased the mines back for $5 million in February 2015, reopening some mine locations and creating around 150 jobs.

— Email: [email protected]; follow on Twitter @Sarah_E_Plummer