By David Wichner | Arizona Daily Star
After years of legal wrangling, employees of Tucson-based copper miner Asarco LLC will have to wait at least a few months longer to learn whether the company must pay them disputed bonuses based on the price of copper.
The U.S. Supreme Court has pushed off until Oct. 1 the task of deciding whether it will review lower-court rulings requiring Asarco to pay the price bonuses.
Unions led by the United Steelworkers say the bonuses owed to about 750 current and former Asarco employees have mounted to more than $10 million including interest.
Asarco filed a petition for Supreme Court review in May, asking that the high court overturn two federal district court rulings and an appellate-court decision ordering that the copper-mining company pay the bonuses.
While it is in session, the Supreme Court decides whether it will review cases weekly at private conferences.
