PARKERSBURG – After being falsely accused of unprofessional behavior, a former emergency room nurse at a Wood County hospital is suing to get her job and reputation back.

Charlene Stephens filed a wrongful termination suit against Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital in Wood Circuit Court. In her complaint filed May 19, Stephens, a Williamston resident, alleges C-CMH fired her in 2009 for improperly handling medications.

However, she maintains the accusation, which was eventually proven baseless by a state regulatory agency, was a pretext to replace her with a younger, male nurse.

Earlier this year, C-CMH merged with St. Joseph’s Hospital to become Camden-Clark Medical Center, an affiliate of West Virginia United Health System.

According to her suit, Stephens worked in Camden-Clark’s emergency room until May 2009. Though it does specify when she started, the suit maintains she performed her job in a “satisfactory, even exemplary manner, and received good performance evaluations during her employment.”

Nevertheless, on May 19, 2009, Stephens was fired from Camden-Clark following allegations she “mishandled medications.” Her termination, Stephens alleges, was done “without an adequate investigation.”

Shortly after her termination, Stephens says Camden-Clark filed a complaint against her with the state Board of Nursing. After it received the complaint, the Board requested additional documentation from Camden-Clark.

According to the suit, in her reply dated June 4, 2009, the administrator who made the initial complaint against Stephens recanted virtually all the allegations saying the missing medications involved only two Lortabs. However, those were eventually accounted for.

The name of the administrator is not stated in court records.

In her suit, Stephens maintains the computer systems Camden-Clark used to order and dispense medication is largely to blame for her troubles. The systems, Med Host and PYXIS, were in place less than a year prior to her termination, and prone to making regular errors in the “documentation and dispensing of medicine.”

Though changes were made to correct the problems, Stephens says Camden-Clark refused to allow her the opportunity to refute the allegations or have her job back. Regardless, on an unspecified date, the Board dismissed the complaint against her.

In her suit, Stephens alleges her firing was motivated by Camden-Clark to “eliminate older, more senior female employees” with the missing medication providing the needed excuse. Since she was terminated, Stephens alleges Camden-Clark replaced her “with a less experienced, male employee under the age of 40.”

That person is not identified in court records.

Prior to her termination, Stephens maintains she “was the highest paid nurse with the best schedule in the ER.” As a result of it, Stephens says she’s suffered “mental distress, humiliation, anxiety, embarrassment, depression, aggravation, annoyance, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life.”

Along with unspecified damages, including front pay, back pay and reinstatement, Stephens seeks court costs, attorney fees, interest, and a court order establishing an on-going age discrimination training program at Camden-Clark. She is represented by former Wood County Prosecutor Ginny A. Conley.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-214

May 20
Douglas S. Booth vs. Lowe’s Home Centers Inc.
PA – Bruce White; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for injuries he received on Oct. 4, 2010, at its Vienna location when the barrier gate on a forklift collapsed on his knee. He seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees, court costs and interest.
Case number: 11-C-217

May 27
Stuart Oil Company vs. Timber Contractors LLC
PA – Andrew C. Woofter III; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for failing to pay for fuel purchased on credit from Dec. 30, 2010 through March 16. They seek judgment in the amount of $86,793.59, court costs and interest.
Case number: 11-C-223

June 3
Arlene Quoyle vs. Lincare Inc. and Mike Morrison
PA – Benjamin N. Conaway; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for wrongful termination, and age discrimination after she was fired on June 25, 2010. She seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-230

Linda and William T. Marty vs. Thomas A. Durnell, M.D., Inc.
PA – Bill Merriman; J – Beane
* The plaintiffs are suing the defendant for medical malpractice when Linda, after being treated by Durnell for 10 years with vulvar dermatitis, consulted with two other physicians in 2009 who diagnosed her with Paget’s disease which resulted in a vulvectomy on Sept. 24, 2009. William makes a claim for loss of consortium. They seek unspecified damages, interest, attorney fees and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-232

June 9
Charles A. Wilcoxen vs. SJH Healthcare System, LP d/b/a St. Joseph’s Hospital, 4M Emergency Systems of Parkersburg, Stephen R. Mosberg, M.D. and Gregory Wayne Creel, P.A.
PA – Harry Deitzler and David A. Sims; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a resident of Belpre, Ohio, is suing the defendants for medical malpractice when following an automobile accident he was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s emergency room on June 9, 2010. After he was treated and released by Mosberg and Creel, Wilcoxen returned two days later to undergo surgery for an active brain bleed that was caused by a subdural hematoma sustained from the accident. He seeks unspecified damages, interest, court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 11-C-237

June 22
Dorothy Metz vs. Shelia Logston and David Wamsley
PA – Brian L. Ooten; J – Waters
*The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident, is suing the defendants for injuries she sustained on June 26, 2009, when a Pit Bull owned by Logston at the apartment complex owned by Wamsley attached and bit her. She seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees, court costs and interest.
Case number: 11-C-253

June 29
City of Parkersburg vs. Randall Howard Craig and Richard Wilhelm
PA – Joseph Santer; J – Waters
*The plaintiff is suing Craig, its former finance director, to recover funds for which he fraudulently billed the city for his personal use including one occasion in which Wilhelm conspired with Craig to submit false invoices for a public works project. It seeks judgment against the defendants for $18,583.94 plus court costs.
Case number: 11-C-256

June 30
Bernard R. McCormick and Bertha M. McCormick vs. Paul G. Nadie, M.D.
PA – Ira M. Haught; J – Beane
*The plaintiffs are suing the defendant for medical malpractice when in the course of performing an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and bronchosopy at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital on May 11, 2009, Nadie placed a chest tube into Bernard that failed to function properly causing in air leaking into his subcutaneous space resulting in the swelling of his neck, chest and face. Bertha makes a claim for loss of consortium. They seek unspecified damages and interest.
Case number: 11-C-257

July 12
Carol Elaine Dodd, as administratrix of the estate of Thelma Cantley vs. Remigio Jacob, M.D.
PA – William A. Davis; J – Reed
*The plaintiff is suing the defendant for wrongful death after Cantley was admitted to Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital’s emergency room on Sept. 21, 2009, and Jacob ordered a CT scan with contrast that failed to detect an acute tubular necrosis and renal failure that resulted in Cantley’s death the next day. She seeks unspecified damages, an interest.
Case number: 11-C-276

July 22
Judith and James Summers vs. Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital Corp.
PA – W.R. Richardson; J – Beane
* The plaintiffs are suing the defendant for injuries Judith sustained on July 23, 2010, when she was hit by an automatic door on the South Tower that malfunctioned. James makes a claim for loss of consortium. They seek unspecified damages, interest and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-291

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company vs. Michael E. Taylor
PA – Asad V. Khan; J – Beane
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for subrogation of a claim it paid its policyholder, Ranford Heckart, for damage caused to Heckart’s home on July 26, 2009, by Taylor. They seek judgment in the amount of $58,092.17 plus interest and attorney fees.
Case number: 11-C-294

July 27
Andrew Marasco vs. Asian Cuisine, Inc. d/b/a Hibachi Grill Supreme Buffett and Kevin Huang
PA – Brent Wolfinbarger; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident, is suing the defendant, a Parkersburg business and its owner for discrimination when, after initially being hired as a waiter on May 5, 2010, was told by Huang only Chinese waitresses were being employed when he reported for training two days later. He seeks unspecified damages, interest, attorney fees and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-299

This Asian restaurant in Parkersburg is named in a discrimination lawsuit in Wood Circuit Court. Andrew Marasco alleges Hibachi Grill Suprme Buffet, and its co-owner, Kevin Huang, initially offered him a job as a waiter last year, but later informed him they were only hiring Chinese women. (Photo by Lawrence Smith)

PARKERSBURG – A Wood County man has is alleging he was denied employment at an Asian restaurant because of his race and gender.

Andrew Marasco filed a discrimination suit against Asian Cuisine Inc. in Wood Circuit Court on July 27. In his complaint, Marasco, 23, of Parkersburg, alleges Asian Cuisine, which operates as Hibachi Grill Supreme Buffet, denied him employment last year when they, after initially offering him a job as a waiter, later told him they were only hiring Chinese women.

According to his suit, Marasco on May 1, 2010, learned Hibachi Grill was hiring through a “Help Wanted” sign posted on the restaurant it was preparing to open in the Lakewood Plaza on Grand Central Ave. In submitting an application, Marasco expressed an interest in any vacant position including waiter.

Two days later, Marasco says he received a telephone call from Kevin Huang, a Hurricane resident, and co-owner of the restaurant. Huang invited him for an interview on May 5.

Marasco kept the appointment, and was interviewed by Huang. Though Huang made no initial offer of employment, he later called Marasco leaving him a voice message telling him to report for training two days later.

According to his suit, Marasco immediately resigned his position at the Knights Inn in Parkersburg in anticipation of working at Hibachi Grill. However, when he reported for training as instructed on May 7, Huang told him he had not been hired, and that Hibachi Grill was “only hiring ‘Chinese waitresses’ at that time.”

In his suit, Marasco alleges Hibachi Grill, and Huang committed race and sex discrimination under the state Human Rights Act in failing to hire him as a waiter, or any other position in which he was qualified.

As a result of being denied employment, Marasco maintains he’s incurred increased expenses, decreased value of property, physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering, annoyance and inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of life and property.

Marasco seeks unspecified damages, interest, court costs and attorney fees. He is represented by St. Marys attorney Brent Wolfinbarger with the Pleasants Law Firm.

The case is assigned to Judge J.D. Beane.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-299

Aug. 22
Clary Lumber Company, Inc. vs. Olympus Illiad, Inc. formerly known as Greenpak
PA – Ryan S. Marstellar; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for unpaid goods and services. They seek judgment for $143,226.40 plus interest, fees and costs.
Case number: 11-C-364

Mark D. Deem vs. Lowe’s Home Centers, Inc.
PA – Walt Auvil; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for failing to pay him his final paycheck within 72 hours of his termination on Jan. 11. He seeks triple damages under the state Wage Payment and Collection Act plus court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 11-C-370

Sept. 9
DeBarr Trucking Company, Inc. vs. Timothy Callison d/b/a Alert Environmental Contracting, Inc.
PA – Joseph T. Santer; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant, a Bridgeport business, for failing to remit payment for pick-up and delivery of sand and soil from Aug. 17 until Dec. 8. They seek judgment for $50,599.49 and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-409

Travis R. Rector vs. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP d/b/a Wal-Mart and Daniel White
PA- Walt Auvil; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendants for wrongful termination and violation of the state Wage Payment and Collection Act when White the human resources manager at the Pettyville location, terminated Rector on June 30, 2010, after he applied for and received long-term disability benefits with the ability to return to work in a non-hazardous environment. Following his termination, Wal-Mart sent Rector two final paychecks, in which one in the amount of $1,779.94 was returned for insufficient funds. He seeks unspecified damages, including reinstatement to his job, civil penalties under WPCA, court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 11-C-412

Sept. 30
Scott Allen Marks, as administrator of the estate of Paul W. Smith vs. Joseph P. Albright, Jr.
PA – Joseph T. Santer; J – Beane
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant, a suspended Wood County attorney, for fraudulent conversion of $14,600 from the estate when he served as executor from July 30, 2008 until June 2, 2010, and failing to file the estate’s tax return in 2008 thus incurring a liability of $248.32 for the estate. He seeks judgment against Albright for $22,528.32, including recovery of the $7,680 bond Albright posted to qualify as executor of the estate.
Case number: 11-C-447

PARKERSBURG – A suspended Wood County attorney is again in legal trouble over his failure to timely settle an estate.

Scott Allen Marks filed suit against Joseph P. Albright Jr. in Wood Circuit Court. In his complaint filed Sept. 30, Marks, as the administrator of the Paul W. Smith estate, alleges that Albright, while serving as the estate’s executor between 2008 and 2010, not only converted nearly $15,000 from the estate for his personal use, but also failed to file the estate’s tax return in 2009.

An ethics complaint filed against Albright with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel by one of Smith’s heirs was among the reasons the state Supreme Court earlier this year ordered the suspension of his license.

$122,000 for ‘no work’

According the suit, Albright became executor of the estate when he paid a portion of the $7,680 bond fee on July 31, 2008, following Smith’s death the month earlier. Albright served as executor for the next two years.

However, Marks alleges during that time Albright “performed no work on behalf of” the estate. Nevertheless, Albright wrote 35 checks totaling $122,600 “to himself as payment for alleged executor fees.”

According to the suit, the Wood County Commission on June 14, 2010, ordered Albright removed as the executor, and appointed Marks as administrator. Six weeks later, Albright returned all but $14,600 to the estate’s checking account.

Part of Albright’s duties as the executor was to file the estate’s tax return. Smith alleges he failed to file the 2008 return thus creating a $248.83 liability for the estate.

In his suit, Marks seeks judgment against Albright for $22,528.32, including recovery of the bond fee. He and the estate are represented by Joseph T. Santer with the Parkersburg law firm of Santer and Santer.

The case is assigned to Judge J.D. Beane.

History of trouble

In February, the Court placed Albright on a year’s suspension. The suspension was based in part on a complaint Steilacoom, Wash., resident Beth Agnew, an heir to Smith’s estate, filed against Albright alleging he failed to communicate with her about his progress in settling it.

The Smith estate is not the first he was disciplined for mishandling.

In 1999, ODC found Albright committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct in failing to keep Parkersburg resident Genevieve Cross about his status in settling the estate of Jeanne Johnson.

However, ODC opted not to pursue formal disciplinary charges against Albright, but instead cautioned him “to diligently handle such matters in the future and to be more careful about explaining matters to heirs.”

Albright failed to heed the advice as in 2007 he was reprimanded by the Court for failing to communicate with three clients, including Rita A. Ramsey of Orlando, Fla., a beneficiary to the estate of Clyde Curtis Carter, a Parkersburg resident who died in 1985. Ramsey, Carter’s step-granddaughter, filed her complaint against Albright in 2004 after he failed to return her repeated telephone calls from the previous 15 months.

In the course of its investigation, ODC found that, despite receiving permission to take over the duties from his father, Joseph P. Albright Sr., in 2003, Albright Jr. by June 2006 had yet to qualify as the estate’s executor.

Albright Sr., who was appointed executor in July 1999 following removal of Carter’s grandson, Kenneth Clyde Carter, had to relinquish all his cases after he was elected to the state Supreme Court the next year.

Because of their relationship, Albright Sr. was disqualified from hearing the disciplinary case. On March 20, 2009, he died in Pittsburgh due to complications of esophageal cancer.

Nine months later, the Court held Albright Jr. in contempt for failing to comply with conditions of its 2007 reprimand that he settle the Carter estate, and provide ODC a quarterly update of his progress. As punishment, it ordered the immediate suspension of his license.

However, the Court placed a 120-day stay on enforcement of its order provided Albright could settle the estate by then. Records show he did the next month.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-447

Deitzler

VIENNA — A panel of scientists has found there is a “probable link” between exposure to a processing aid chemical that DuPont uses and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

The C8 Science Panel was selected in 2005 to determine whether such a link exists between the chemical C8, also known as perfluorooctanic acid or PFOA, and any human disease as part of a class action settlement of a lawsuit involving releases of C8 from DuPont’s Washington Works in Wood County.

According to DuPont’s website, the chemical has been used by industry for many years as a processing aid in the manufacture of some fluoropolymers. These fluoropolymers often possess “unique properties,” including heat and chemical resistance, and are used to make Teflon and other non-stick products.

On Monday, the panel issued its first series of assessments as to whether there is a probable link between C8 exposure and health problems. All other probable link outcomes, it said, will be issued by the end of July 2012.

The findings

The panel’s most notable finding showed a probable link between exposure to the chemical and elevated blood pressure in pregnancy, or preeclampsia.

The scientists had conducted a series of studies of pregnancies among women who were enrolled in the C8 Health Project or were living in the Mid-Ohio Valley in areas with elevated C8 exposure.

Three of the four analyses of the participants showed small elevations in risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension among women with the highest exposure, the panel found.

“While the evidence was not completely consistent across studies, and while risk did not always increase progressively as PFOA levels increased, the Science Panel believes the evidence is strong enough to conclude there is a probable link between C8 exposure and the risk of PIH,” it said Monday.

Among its other findings, the panel said a probable link did not exist between C8 exposure and the risk of pregnancy loss, either miscarriage or stillbirth. It also did not find a link between exposure to the chemical and preterm or low birth weight infants, or birth defects.

Also Monday, the panel released a status report on the association of PFOA and adult thyroid disease in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

According to the report, 3,600 cases of thyroid disease were reported in about 33,000 people.

The scientists concluded that data shows a “positive association” between cumulative blood levels of PFOA and thyroid disease occurrence.

Also Monday, the panel shared results from its short-term follow-up study.

Nearly 800 participants in the C8 Health Project were invited back and provided further blood samples in 2010, almost four years since the first survey. In that time, serum levels of the chemical for those people fell by about half, the panel explained.

In particular, the scientists looked at the relationship between cholesterol and changes in C8 levels.

“Cholesterol did not change much overall but the change was found to be correlated with the change in C8,” it said. “The more the fall in C8, the more the drop in cholesterol, for LDL cholesterol in particular.”

Elevated LDL cholesterol levels indicate a risk for cardiovascular disease.

In July, the panel had found that former DuPont plant workers who were exposed to C8 had higher death rates from kidney cancer, various kidney diseases and mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

A study on liver function also had showed one of three enzyme markers was elevated, indicating some damage to the organ. However, the panel had warned against linking the finding to C8 exposure.

The settlement

A settlement was reached with DuPont in the original class action lawsuit, Leach v. E. I. DuPont, in February 2005.

That settlement provided for payment of $70 million for the health project. With interest, the actual budget exceeded $71 million.

The settlement also mandated that DuPont pay for the installation of state-of-the-art water treatment technology for the six identified water districts to clean C8 in the water supply to the lowest practicable levels.

Water in all six affected districts is now filtered to a level where C8 is nearly non-detectable, said Harry Deitzler of Charleston law firm Hill, Peterson, Carper, Bee and Deitzler PLLC. The firm is one of three designated as lead class counsel representing the people in the six districts who consumed contaminated water.

Also as a result of the settlement, DuPont is paying almost $20 million to fund the panel’s health study.

If the panel determines that there is a “probable link” between the chemical and health problems, the company must make up to $235 million available for the medical monitoring of class members.

Additionally, all personal injury claims of affected people in the class are preserved if the determination is made by the panel that there is a probable link between C8 exposure and various diseases.

Reaction

Deitzler said the panel’s findings Monday confirmed his law firm’s original concerns.

“The findings announced by the panel are not surprising based on the current state of scientific literature and studies of health effects associated with exposure to PFOA,” he said.

“We are pleased that our class members and the community now have some initial answers to their concerns about whether they are at risk for adverse reproductive health effects as a result of their exposure to PFOA.”

Now that at least one link has been verified, Deitzler said his firm will begin working with DuPont to implement the medical monitoring phase, as required by the settlement agreement.

However, the company, which plans to stop making and using C8 by 2015, said in a statement it doesn’t believe the chemical causes pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Deitzler said he was shocked to hear the company’s response to the findings.

“Here, DuPont is issuing press releases basically dissing the science panel’s findings,” he said. “This is after DuPont made a big deal of pointing out how it wanted a fair scientific resolution of this question at our settlement conference more than five years ago.

“DuPont helped pick the panel about which they are now complaining.”

In fact, both sides had a say in who was selected to serve on the panel. And each side had veto power, Deitzler explained.

The panel is made up of three scientists from universities in London, Atlanta and Providence, R.I. They include Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland and Dr. David Savitz.

Fletcher is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Department of Social and Environmental Health Research in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which he joined in 1992. The LSHTM, a college in the University of London, is an internationally recognized center of excellence in research in public health, and is one of the highest-rated public health research institutions in Britain.

Steenland is an environmental and occupational epidemiologist. He is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the School of Public Health at Emory University, where he arrived in 2002. He previously worked for 20 years at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati.

Savitz is currently a professor of Community Health, Epidemiology Section, and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brown University. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and moved to the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in 1985.

“Now that the panel has reported some of its findings and found a probable link, DuPont is saying they’re wrong,” Deitzler said. “I think that’s a little disingenuous.”

He added, “We might not like the fact they didn’t correlate birth defects with exposure to C8, but we have to accept it because we chose these people. We believe they are qualified to make that assessment.”

Oct. 13
Orville K and Kimberly D. Hilderbrand vs. James E. Ferguson and the Wood County Board of Education
PA – Daniel B. Fowler; J- Reed
* The plaintiffs are suing the defendants for injuries they received on Oct. 14, 2009, when a bus owned by the Board, and operated by Ferguson struck them while driving their 1994 Ford Mustang on W. Va. Route 47. They seek unspecified damages.
Case number: 11-C-479

Oct. 21
Terrie Todd vs. Toys R Us and John Doe
PA – Brian K. Karr; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a Tyler County resident, is suing the defendant for injuries she sustained on Oct. 12, 2009, when she slipped on a puddle of water on the floor at the defendant’s Vienna location. She seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-494

Oct. 25
Bryce Corporation vs. Mr. Bee Potato Chip Company
PA – William Chricton V; J –Waters
* The plaintiff, a Memphis, Tenn.-based business is suing the defendant for failing to pay for specialty packing materials. They seek judgment in the amount of $102,015.33 plus court costs and interest.
Case number: 11-C-500

Oct. 31
Vicky L. and Craig Brown vs. John Kevin Koch, M.D.
PA – Robert V. Berthold, Jr.; J – Waters
* The plaintiffs, residents of Tyler County, are suing the defendant for malpractice when Koch on Sept. 26, 2009, while placing a catheter into Vicky’s chest, pulled a glide wire back while it was still inside a needle causing a piece of wire to sheer off into Vicky’s vascular system. Craig makes a claim for loss of consortium. They seek unspecified damages.
Case number: 11-C-507

Nov. 17
Carol Cackovic vs. the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
PA – William Summers; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a resident of Elizabeth, is seeking a court order prohibiting the defendant from providing any Child Protective Services’ history to her employer, PAIS, as part of its background check for current employment.
Case number: 11-C-544

Wood County
Dec. 7
Nathan Deuley vs. The city of Parkersburg, Robert Newell, Mayor and Joseph Martin, Police Chief
PA – John E. Triplett, Jr.; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg police officer, is suing the defendants to be placed back on full duty after he was placed on paid administrative leave after he, and other Parkersburg police officers were named as co-defendants in two civil rights suits. Along with order reinstating him to full duty, Deuly seeks judgment for full wages, including overtime, and benefits, court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 11-C-569

Nov. 8
Chelsea Clark, Holly Curfman, Susan Deem, Megan Hashman, Tara Kaye Kent, Carly Kimes, Kelly Mann, Allison Plant, Kady Redfearn, Christine Whitecotton vs. Valley Beauty School
PA – Paul Stroebel; J – Beane (Clark, Hashman, Mann and Whitecotton), Reed (Curfman, Kent and Plant) and Waters (Deem, Kimes and Redfearn)
* The plaintiffs are suing the defendant for breach of contract for failing to refund money they paid for cosmetology courses after the school closed. They each seek unspecified damages, interest, court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 11-C-523-532

Dec. 21
Courtney Ahlbourn v. William B. Summers
PA – Walt Auvil; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg attorney, is suing the defendant, her former law partner, for failing to pay her for work performed from Sept. 1, 2010 through the time of her resignation on Nov. 3, 2011. She seeks judgment in the amount of the unpaid work, $49,556.25, along with triple damages of $148,668.75 under the state Wage Payment and Collection Act plus court costs, attorney fees and interest.
Case number: 11-C-590

Dec. 23
Robert Casto v. Justin DeWeese, individually and as an employee of the Wood County Commission and the Wood County Sheriff’s Department
PA – Richard Dunbar; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a Washington resident, is suing the defendants for injuries he sustained in an automobile accident with DeWeese at an unspecified location on Dec. 30, 2009. He seeks unspecified damages including recovery of $12,000 in medical expenses, interest and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-596

Dec. 29
Pao-Luo P. Cheng vs. E.I. DuPont deNemours and Nick Read
PA – Katherine Davitian; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendants for age discrimination when he, after 22 years of employment, was laid off from the Teflon Research Group in 2009 at age 58. He seeks unspecified damages, court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 11-C-602

PARKERSBURG – Plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against a Wood County hospital are asking they be awarded more than $10 million for lost benefits, and the hospital’s former parent company put its remaining hospitals currently on the auction block up as collateral.

Last year, nine former St. Joseph’s Hospital employees — Carole S. Caplinger, Carol S. Dearman, Earlene Workman, Mark Workman, Beverly J. Flanagan, Mary Kathleen Moore, Ed Rardin, Shannon M. Nelson and K.C. Stalnaker — filed suit alleging they and their co-workers were not paid their accumulated sick leave following their termination from St. Joseph’s prior to its merger with Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital.

The two officially became Camden-Clark Medical Center on March 1, and is now an affiliate of West Virginia United Health System. Prior to the merger, St. Joseph’s was owned by the Houston, Texas-based Signature Hospital Corporation, which is named as a co-defendant in the suit.

In April, Wood Circuit Judge Robert A. Waters granted a motion by the employees’ attorneys, Ginny A. Conley and George Cosenza, to give the suit class-action status so as to enable the remaining St. Joseph’s employees the ability to become a party to it, and share in any proceeds. Records show, between 630 and 700 people are potential plaintiffs in the suit.

In a filing made Nov. 16, Conley and Cosenza put a dollar amount they believe Signature owns their clients. They maintain all members of the class “are entitled to recover in excess of $10,800,000, plus attorneys’ fees and costs.”

The dollar figure quoted came as part of a petition Conley and Cosenza made for an order of attachment. Believing Signature does have $10 million, they asked Waters to “order a prejudgment attachment to any assets or property necessary to secure the expected recovery in this action until the litigation is completed.”

Specifically, they asked the attachment be made to the two remaining hospitals it owns in Texas, the Gulf Coast Medical Center in Wharton, and the Pampa Regional Medical Center. The petition came following a deposition taken of Steve Peterson, Signature’s chief financial officer, and one if its general partners, that the company had intentions of selling the two facilities and possible suitors, but no firm commitments.

In a response dated Nov. 23, Peterson asked that Waters deny Conley and Cosenza’s petition. In his response, he said an attachment would not only interfere with Signature’s ability to sell the hospitals, but also “would result in substantial damage and undermine even what the Plaintiffs want to do in this case.”

As of presstime, Waters had yet to rule on the petition. Trial in the case is scheduled to begin Monday, Jan. 30.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-98

PARKERSBURG – After being on the offensive in a class-action suit, two Wood County attorneys will go on defensive in related lawsuits against them for professional misconduct in a Parkersburg businessman’s criminal case.

The first of two civil suits against George Cosenza and Ginny A. Conley begins soon after they represent former employees of St. Joseph’s Hospital in a class-action suit against its former parent company, Signature Health Corp. of Houston, Texas. Trial in it is scheduled to begin Jan. 30.

Cosenza, a Parkersburg criminal defense attorney, and Conley, a former Wood County prosecuting attorney, allege Signature failed to pay over 600 former employees their accumulated sick leave following their termination from St. Joseph’s prior to its merger with Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital last year. They seek a minimum of $10.8 million in damages.

Almost two months to the day after trial begins in the St. Joseph’s class-action suit, Cosenza will be on trial in a legal malpractice suit filed by Jeff Corra. In his suit filed in 2009, Corra alleges Cosenza failed to zealously represent him on charges of furnishing alcohol to minors.

In September 2006, the Wood County grand jury returned nine counts against Corra alleging he provided alcohol to four of his daughter’s friends following a visit to their home the month before, which later contributed to them later being involved in a single-vehicle accident. Four months later, Corra was indicted on two counts of involuntary manslaughter alleging the alcohol he provided them resulted in the deaths of two men who died in it.

Following the indictments, Corra maintained his innocence saying though he was aware the four friends stopped by, he never furnished them any alcohol. It was later he learned that one of them snuck a Coors Light beer from his refrigerator.

In August 2007, a jury found Corra guilty on four of the furnishing charges. Wood Circuit Judge Robert A. Waters sentenced him to 10 days in jail and a $100 fine for each charge.

However, in February 2009, the state Supreme Court overturned Corra’s conviction. The Court found, among other things, the prosecution erroneously indicted him with furnishing alcoholic liquors to minors all the while presenting evidence he enabled them to drink beer.

The Court’s ruling was the centerpiece of a wrongful prosecution suit he filed a year later against Conley, who decided on the eve of the day of the filing period not to see re-election in 2008, and Sean Francisco, the assistant prosecutor assigned the case. His suit accuses Conley and Francisco of being overzealous in indicting him on both the furnishing, and involuntary manslaughter charges.
Records show Corra never was brought to trial on the latter within three terms of the court, or one year, following the indictment. Also, the indictments were not dismissed until September 2009, another six terms of court.

Conley along with Francisco, and Dave Tennant and Bret Pickens, two Wood County Sheriff’s deputies who aided in the investigation against Corra, go on trial April 17. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for March 30, three days after the start of Corra’s trial against Cosenza.

Both Cosenza and Conley have denied the allegations against them, and Cosenza has countersued Corra alleging he still owes him $12,000 in attorneys fess. Judges J.D. Beane and Jeffrey B. Reed, who are assigned Cosenza’s and Conley’s cases, respectively, have denied separate motions to dismiss them.

Wood Circuit Court case numbers 09-C-426 (Cosenza legal malpractice) and 10-C-79 (Conley wrongful prosecution)

Jan. 4
Kindra Boyd vs. Mary B’s Diner, LLC
PA- Bruce White; J – Beane
* The plaintiff is suing the defendants for injuries she sustained on August 15 when a television at the defendant’s location on 2212 Pike St. in Parkersburg fell off its mount and hit her. She seeks unspecified damages, interest, attorney fees and court costs.
Case number: 12-C-5

PARKERSBURG – The parent company of a Wood County hospital has tentatively agreed to pay its former employees nearly $5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit.

Signature Hospital Corp. on Jan. 27 agreed to pay over 600 St. Joseph’s Hospital employees $4.7 million in sick leave they accrued prior to its merger with neighboring Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. The two merged on March 1 to become Camden-Clark Medical Center as part of the West Virginia United Health System.

In a lawsuit filed two weeks following the merger, nine former St. Joseph’s employees — Carole S. Caplinger, Carol S. Dearman, Earlene Workman, Mark Workman, Beverly J. Flanagan, Mary Kathleen Moore, Ed Rardin, Shannon M. Nelson and K.C. Stalnaker — alleged the Houston, Texas-based company led them to believe any sick leave they accumulated would be honored by WVUHS. After Judge Robert A. Waters certified the suit class action in April, court records show between 630 and 700 employees lost their sick leave on Feb. 28.

The tentative settlement was reached three days prior to the scheduled trial date. The amount is over $6 million less than the $10.8 million the class members demanded in a filing made Nov. 16.

Former Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Ginny A. Conley, co-counsel for the employees, told The Parkersburg News and Sentinel the total value of the lost sick leave was $3.6 million.

The details of the settlement stipulated that the nine named plaintiffs would receive $5,000 each, and the other employees would be paid using a formula calculating the number of hours they accumulated by Feb. 28 multiplied by the hourly rate. Conley and co-counsel George Cosenza, a Parkersburg criminal defense attorney, would be paid from the remaining funds.

Records show the settlement would be paid with $5 million Signature was ordered to set aside from its sale of the Gulf Coast Medical Center in Wharton, Texas.

The terms also called from Signature to complete payment to all class members by April 12, 2012. Any class member could object to the settlement by filing a notice with the Wood Circuit Clerk’s Office within 45 days.

Records show, Signature agreed to the settlement making no admission of liability. A final hearing on the settlement is scheduled for March 29.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-98