The Pennsylvania Superior Court has affirmed a Washington County jury’s $1 million award—plus prejudgment interest—to a pair of landowners who argued that Consol Pennsylvania Coal Co. (CPCC) breached the terms of a settlement agreement between the parties in a quiet title action.

In an unpublished Nov. 8 memorandum, a three-judge panel of the appeals court in Carter v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Co. unanimously affirmed the trial court’s ruling that CPCC was not entitled to judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The panel said the jury had sufficient evidence to side with plaintiffs Jon Holbert Carter and Patricia W. Carter on their claim that CPCC had breached their settlement agreement by taking a position on appeal in the quiet title action that contradicted the company’s position from earlier in the litigation.