CHEYENNE - A Rock Springs man paralyzed in a trona mining accident in 2002 has lost his legal battle against his supervisor, the mine company and the company that made the machine he was operating.

Miner Jose Loredo was left quadriplegic when material fell on him as he was working at the Solvay Chemicals Inc. underground trona mine near Green River. Loredo had been operating a machine that drives bolts into the ceiling to stabilize previously mined areas when material fell on him.

The Wyoming Supreme Court last week upheld rulings from Sweetwater County District Judge Jere A. Ryckman.

Ryckman had ruled against Loredo in his related lawsuits against Solvay America - the parent of the chemical company; job site supervisor Gilbert A. Pacheco and Joy Technologies, the manufacturer of the roof-bolting machine.

Loredo had argued that the machine should have been fitted with a metal canopy to protect the operator. He argued that Pacheco failed to supervise the work site adequately and claimed that Solvay America was responsible for lack of adequate safety at the mine.

Justice William U. Hill wrote the Wyoming Supreme Court ruling upholding Ryckman's decisions.

Hill stated that Solvay America didn't directly control safety procedures at the mine. He also stated that Pacheco didn't act intentionally to injure Loredo and was accordingly legally immune from being sued.

On Loredo's case against Joy Technologies, Hill wrote, "Nothing in the manufacture or design of the roof bolter caused the ceiling to collapse. Nothing about the roof bolter was defective by the mere omission of a canopy."

Hill stated that there was a clear danger of falling rocks in the area where Loredo was working. Hill wrote that both company policy and federal regulations prohibited using the bolting machine in such an unsupported area.

Lawyer P. Richard Meyer, representing Loredo, said he was unhappy with the court ruling.

"My client wouldn't be a quadriplegic if he had just had a steel canopy over him," Meyer said. "From our perspective, it was money over safety. But the supreme court obviously didn't see it that way."

Meyer said the federal Mine Safety U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration began requiring similar roof-bolting machines that operate in underground coal mines to be fitted with steel canopies in the 1980s.

However, Meyer said that requirement doesn't apply to trona mines. He said many of the open machines such as the one Loredo was operating are still in use in Wyoming mines.

Lawyer Joe Teig represented Solvay and Gilbert Pacheco in the case.

"We're pleased with the result," Teig said. "Workplace accidents are always unfortunate, and the accident that led to this litigation was tragic. But I believe that our district court judge got to the right result, and the supreme court agreed, and I think that's a good result."