Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton called on Peabody to do what she called “the right thing” and honor its commitments to help fund the benefits as part of a settlement reached in Patriot Coal Corp.’s first chapter 11 case, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Under that agreement, reached in 2013, Peabody agreed to pay $310 million over four years to help cover retiree health benefits. The deal resolved a long-running fight over who was responsible for the significant retiree liabilities that came with the mining units that Peabody spun off to create Patriot in 2007. Peabody asked a St. Louis bankruptcy judge to revisit that deal, arguing that the events of Patriot’s second chapter 11 case essentially take it off the hook for future obligations. The judge recently agreed to let Peabody move forward with this argument, which the United Mine Workers of America is appealing.
