Jan. 6
Jesse S. Beha vs. Bonnie Sleeth and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
PA – James L. Leach; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a Vienna resident, is suing the defendant, a Burton resident, for injuries she sustained on Jan. 7, 2010 following a collision with her at the intersection of 13th and Lynn streets while Sleeth was employed with DHHR. She seeks unspecified damages.
Case number: 12-C-8

Jan. 18
Grand Park Limited Partnership, PMC IV Joint Partnership and PMC IV LLC vs. Uniforms Plus LLC
PA – Ginny A. Conley; J – Beane
* The plaintiffs are suing the defendant for failing to make payments Nov. 2010 through Sept. 2011 on their lease of 414 Grand Park Drive, Unit 5. They seek judgment in the amount of $30,538.44.
Case number: 12-C-27

Jan. 20
Michael Day vs. Gateway Hospitality Parkersburg LLC d/b/a Comfort Suites-Parkersburg
PA – David M. Goldenberg; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant, a Strasburg, Va.-based business, for wrongful termination and human rights discrimination when he was fired on Jan. 25, 2010 after notifying the regional manager he’d been diagnosed with diabetes. He seeks unspecified damages including front and back pay, attorney fees, court costs, interest and an order prohibiting the defendant from committing future discrimination
Case number: 12-C-29

PARKERSBURG — A collision involving a school bus is at the center of a lawsuit filed in Wood County.

The Wood County Board of Education is named as a co-defendant in a personal injury suit filed Oct. 13 by Orville K. and Kimberly D. Hilderbrand. In their suit filed in Wood Circuit Court, the Hilderbrands, residents of Parkersburg, allege they were injured when a school bus crashed into their car.

According to their suit, on Oct. 14, 2009, Kimberly,45, was driving their 1994 Ford Mustang with Orville,49, riding as a passenger eastbound on W.Va. 47. At a time not specified, they made a left turn into the driveway of 4661 Staunton Ave.

As they were making the turn, a 2003 International school bus driven by James E. Ferguson, also heading eastbound on W.Va. 47, struck the driver’s side of the Hiderbrand’s car. According to the suit, the impact of the collision pushed the car “90 feet before coming to a final rest.”

In their suit, the Hiderbrands alleged they suffered “bodily injuries, property damage and pain and suffering” as a result of the collision. Also, they allege the collision was a result of Ferguson, who is named as co-defendant in the suit, operating the bus “in an unsafe manner and at an unsafe speed.”

The Hilderbrands seek unspecified damages. They are represented by Daniel B. Fowler II the Parkersburg law firm of Dunbar and Fowler.

The case is assigned to Judge Jeffrey B. Reed.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-479

Jan. 25
David R. Fitchett, administrator of the estate of Madison Fitchett, vs. Dustin M. Jones
PA – Todd Wiseman; J – Waters
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident, is suing the defendant, a Mineral Wells resident, for wrongful death when Jones led police in Athens, Ohio on a high-speed chase in the early morning hours of Oct. 30 after being stopped for defective equipment, and crashed his car on Gantsville Road in Washington County. He seeks unspecified damages, interest, attorney fees and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-34

Michael Meyden vs. Alcan Rolled Products-Ravenswood, LLC
PA – Walt Auvil; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a former Wood County resident now living in Utah, is suing the defendant for failing to pay him in accordance his wages and benefits under the agreement they signed on Oct. 27, 2008. He seeks unspecified damages.
Case number: 11-C-35

First Neighborhood Bank, Inc. vs. Eric M. Binder
PA- Andrew C. Woofter III; J – Waters
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant, a Parkersburg resident, for defaulting on a $361,311.73 loan it gave him on July 21, 2004, in which a Jan. 11 foreclosure sale on property Binder used as collateral failed to pay the outstanding balance. It seeks judgment in the amount of the balance, $60,711.73, plus 5.5 percent pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest and court costs.
Case number: 11-C-40

Feb. 10
Asia Ramsey, administratrix of the estate of Carole Reynolds vs. David Kavjian, M.D.
PA – Geoffrey C. Brown; J – Beane
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for Reynolds’ wrongful death after she was admitted to Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital on Jan. 31, 2010 for a fractured patella, and died two days later as a result of a pulmonary embolism brought on by a deep vein thrombosis due to Kavjian’s failure to order a tests following surgery. She seeks unspecified damages, court costs and attorneys fees.
Case number: 12-C-54

March 15
Citizens Bank vs. Vinh T. Nguyen and Diep N. T. Do
PA – Seven R. Hardman; J – Reed
* The plaintiff is suing he defendants for the unpaid balance of a $1,565,000 promissory note given to them on Feb. 17, 2007. They judgment for $305,928.22, plus interest and court costs.
Case number: 12-C-66

Mary Ellen and Russel G. Bogue vs. Fusions Japanese Steak House, Inc.
PA – W.B. Richardson; J – Waters
* The plaintiffs are suing the defendant, a Vienna restaurant, for injuries Mary sustained on Feb. 20, 2010, when a large wooden door fell on her. Russel makes a claim for loss of consortium. They seek unspecified damages, interest and court costs.
Case number: 12-C-67

Ahlborn

PARKERSBURG – A Wood County attorney is alleging another attorney for whom she worked for three years stiffed her for nearly $50,000 resulting in her finding employment elsewhere.

Courtney L. Ahlborn has filed a breach of contract suit against Parkersburg attorney William B. Summers in Wood Circuit Court. In her complaint filed Dec. 21, Ahlborn, 30, alleges Summers not only failed to pay her bonuses she earned totaling $49,556.25 for over a year, but also did not remit payment within 72 hours of her resignation in early November.

According to the suit, Ahlborn began working with Summers on Aug. 1, 2008. In the initial agreement attached as an exhibit to the suit, Ahlborn was to receive a base $40,000 yearly salary, and keep 50 percent of any business she brought into Summers’ law office over $100,000.

Also, the agreement stipulated any bonuses would be announced at a later date, and she would be considered an at-will employee.

Later, Summers on Sept. 1, 2010, boosted Ahlborn’s salary to $90,000 plus 50 percent of any business grossed over $170,000. According to the suit, Ahlborn resigned Nov. 3 as a result of “wages outstanding, accrued and payable to her in the amount of $49,556.25 during the period of Sept. 1, 2010 to and through her resignation.”

Along with judgment for the $49.556.25 she alleges Summers still owes her, Ahlborn seeks triple damages under the state Wage Payment and Collection Act totaling $148,668.75. Also, she seeks court costs, attorney fees and interest.

She is represented by Walt Auvil with the Parkersburg firm of Rusen and Auvil.

Since the filing of her complaint, Summers filed a notice of bona fide defense on Jan. 18. Judge Jeffrey B. Reed, who has been assigned the case, on Feb. 3 set May 2 for a scheduling conference.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-590

PARKERSBURG – For 600 former employees of a Wood County hospital, Christmas comes eight months early this year.

Judge Robert A. Waters on March 29 approved the settlement in a class-action suit employees of St. Joseph’s Hospital tentatively reached two months ago. In the suit filed last March, the employees alleged St. Joseph’s parent company, Signature Hospital Corp. failed to compensate them for their accrued sick leave following St. Joseph’s merger with neighboring Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital.

On March 1, 2011, the two became Camden-Clark Medical Center, an affiliate of West Virginia United Health System.

The weekend prior to trial, the sides announced they agreed to settle the suit for $4.7 million. The details of the settlement stipulated that the nine named plaintiffs -– 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 – 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, 2011 multiplied by the hourly rate.

Also, the settlement stipulated that all potential class members be given at least 45 days to voice any objections. Though none did, two of the named plaintiffs, Dearman and Earlene Workman, were present, and hugged former Wood County Prosecutor Ginny A. Conley, and George Cosenza, who served as co-counsel for the plaintiffs, following conclusion of the 30-minute hearing.

During the hearing, Conley said, in an effort to ensure all 626 identified class members received their full benefits, both she and Cosenza decided to lower their contingency fee from 33 to 22 percent. Beginning April 5, and for the next six months, meetings would be held where class members could bring their identification, and receive their portion of their settlement.

The agreement, Conley said, allowed for she and Cosenza to pocket any unclaimed funds beyond the $1,034,000 they receive as their fee. Though Waters said Conley and Cosenza’s lowered fee was “fair and reasonable…and acceptable in this type of litigation,” he reserved the right to determine how any unclaimed funds are distributed.

Thomas Brandon, Signature’s co-counsel, announced funds from the settlement were being made available from the sale of the Gulf Coast Medical Center in Wharton, Texas. The funds, he said were ready to be wired on either into an escrow account maintained by Conley.

Also, Brandon said there were nine employees who opted out of the suit. However, he said Signature has paid them separately their full benefits.

Wood Circuit Court case number 11-C-98

Cosenza

Corra

PARKERSBURG – A Wood County businessman’s legal malpractice suit against a Parkersburg attorney has reached a conclusion.

Records show Judge J.D. Beane dismissed Jeff Corra’s suit against George Cosenza on March 1 after the sides announced they agreed to a settlement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Todd Reed, Corra’s attorney, said a confidentiality agreement prohibited him or anyone else from discussing the terms except to say the sides “reached an amicable resolution which allowed for the dismissal of the action.” The dismissal also included Cosenza’s counterclaim against Corra for $12,139.40 in alleged unpaid legal bills.

In his suit, Corra, 56, alleged Cosenza, 60, failed to adequately represent him five years ago when he was on trial for providing alcohol to minors. In September 2006, Corra was indicted on nine counts of furnishing alcoholic liquors to minors to friends of his daughter, Ashli, during a visit they made to the Corra home on Rector Road in Vienna the month before.

The indictment alleged Corra’s actions contributed to the friends -– Courtney McDonough, Morgan Brown, Matthew Humphreys and Joshua Tucker –- becoming involved in a single-vehicle accident later on Rosemar Road. Though McDonough and Brown were only injured, Humphreys and Tucker died.

In January 2007, the grand jury would return a two-count indictment against Corra for involuntary manslaughter.

Though he was found guilty on four of the nine counts of furnishing, Corra successfully appealed his conviction to the state Supreme Court. The Court on Feb. 27, 2009, reversed the conviction finding that despite indicting him on furnishing alcoholic liquors, the prosecution throughout its case kept making reference to beer.

Corra maintained that he never furnished any alcohol to anyone, but only found out after the crash that McDonough, while he was outside burning brush, snuck a Coors Light beer from his refrigerator.

In writing the Court’s unanimous opinion, Justice Menis E. Ketchum said both Cosenza, and Assistant Prosecutor Sean Francisco erred in allowing that mistake to happen. He said, “it is apparent that neither the prosecutor nor defense counsel read the statutes relating to the crime of furnishing ‘alcoholic liquors’ before the jury reached its verdict.”

“The prosecutor” Ketchum added, “mistakenly informed a busy trial judge that beer was the same as alcoholic liquor for the purpose of proving the indictment. Likewise, it is not disputed that when the circuit court asked at the charge conference whether he should instruct the jury on the definition of alcoholic liquor, defense counsel stated that an instruction was not necessary because beer was an alcoholic liquor.”

A related suit Corra has against former Wood County Prosecutor Ginny A. Conley for wrongful prosecution is still pending. Among other things, Corra alleges Conley failed to bring him to trial within three terms of the court, or one year, following the indictment on the involuntary manslaughter charges.

Records show, Conley’s successor, Jason Wharton, moved to dismiss the indictment in September 2009, nine months after she left office. The suit names Francisco, who was also assigned both the involuntary manslaughter case, and Deputy Sheriff Dave Tennant, one of the investigating officers, as co-defendants.

Another investigating officer, Deputy Brent Pickens, has been dismissed from the suit. It is scheduled for trial on Tuesday, June 5 with a pre-trial hearing slated for Friday, June 1.

Wood Circuit Court case number 09-C-426

Feb. 21
Andrew S. Barkowski vs. ASC Enterprises, LLC d/b/a Elite Sports Center
PA – Patrick E. McFarland; J – Beane
* The plaintiff is suing the defendant for injuries he sustained on Feb. 21, 2010, while playing soccer inside the defendant’s facility. In the course of the game, he was knocked off balance by an opposing team’s player, fell onto a hardwood floor and broke his right clavicle. He seeks unspecified damages including $2,980 in medical expenses, interest, court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 12-C-70

Westbanco Bank, Inc. vs. Casto Resources, LLC and Donald E. Casto Jr.
PA – Robert W. Full; J – Waters
* The plaintiff is suing a St. Marys business and its owner for defaulting on an $81,413.20 loan given to them Oct. 31, 2008. It seeks judgment for the outstanding balance of $38,530.85, accrued interest of $13, 826.18, a $1,834.49 late charge, court costs, attorney fees and post-judgment interest.
Case number: 12-C-72

Deitzler

PARKERSBURG – An independent panel of scientists has linked exposure to PFOA — a chemical used in making non-stick coatings — to both kidney and testicular cancer in humans.

On Monday, the DuPont-approved panel released its report nixing the company’s objections that PFOA, also known as the chemical C8 or ammonium perfluorooctanoate, is harmless.

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

ABOUT 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 the chemical 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 continued 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 PFOA exposure and various diseases.

THIS WEEK’S FINDINGS

The panel is made up of three epidemiologists jointly selected by DuPont and residents of several communities in West Virginia and Ohio.

According to the company’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, such as fast-food packaging and microwave popcorn bags.

Monday’s findings are the panel’s second series of probable link reports.

“We thank the panel for all of its hard work over the last several years, which has led to this final resolution of the issue of whether PFOA exposure is linked to any serious human disease,” said Robert Bilott, of the Cincinnati law firm of Taft Stettinius and Hollister. Bilott is one of the attorneys representing the residents.

“We are pleased that the community now has some definitive answers to their concerns about whether they have been put at risk for serious adverse health effects because of their exposure to PFOA in their drinking water.

“We look forward to receiving the panel’s remaining probable link reports on the other health endpoints that are still under consideration.”

The panel said it plans to release the remainder of its reports — on heart disease, thyroid disease, neurological problems in children, lipid disorders, etc. — by the end of July.

It released its first set of reports, focusing on reproductive outcomes only, in December.

The panel found that there is a “probable link” between exposure of PFOA and elevated blood pressure in pregnancy, or preeclampsia.

“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,” Deitzler said in December.

“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.”

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

Among its other findings, the panel said in December a probable link did not exist between PFOA 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.

“Today’s scientific findings, coupled with the scientific panel’s related findings in December, finally put to rest the long debate over whether PFOA is linked to any serious adverse health effects in humans,” Deitzler said in a statement Monday.

“It is has now been confirmed that human exposure to PFOA is linked to one of the most serious of human diseases — cancer.”

MEDICAL MONITORING

Now that PFOA has been linked to serious human diseases, DuPont must pay the $235 million to fund a medical monitoring program.

The program will help detect the onset of PFOA-linked diseases among the 70,000 to 80,000 residents who are class members as defined in the settlement agreement.

Last week, the parties announced that they had jointly selected a C8 Medical Panel.

The members are Dr. Dean Baker, Dr. Melissa McDiarmid and Dr. Harold Sox.

The medical panel is now charged with determining what type of medical monitoring program would be appropriate for the class members given the C8 Science Panel’s probable link findings on disease.

March 9
Casey J. Cox vs. Blondie’s Back d/b/a K.C. Lounge, Stephanie Weaver, James Vandale, Marcus E. Smith, Thomas J. Sullivan and Timothy W. Lewis
PA – pro se; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a Washington resident, is suing the defendants for injuries he sustained on March 10, 2010, when Weaver, Sullivan and Lewis assaulted him with pool sticks at the urging of Vandale and Smith, employees of K.C. Lounge. He seeks unspecified damages and court costs.
Case number: 12-C-104

March 16
Evelyn G. Ramsey vs. Nathan Shelton d/b/a Advantage Construction
PA- Richard D. Smith, Jr.; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident, is suing the defendant, a Vienna business, for breach of contract when Shelton on March 19, 2011, abandoned renovation of her home on Third Ave., due in part to him never obtaining the proper permits. She seeks damages of $42,306 plus attorneys fees, court costs and interest.
Case number: 12-C-120

April 16
Earl Khosrovi vs. the Wood County Commission, the city of Parkersburg, the Wood County Development Authority and the Downtown Development Task Force
PA – Ethan Vessels; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident, is suing the defendants for injuries he sustained on Sept. 17, 2011 when he tripped and fell on a parking stop during the “Taste of Parkersburg” event. He seeks unspecified damages.
Case number: 12-C-160

April 26
Jeffery James Blankenship v. Richard A. Bush
PA- pro se; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a Vienna resident, is suing the defendant, a Parkersburg attorney, for legal malpractice in preparing a prenuptial agreement, and representing Blankenship in a divorce in 2010. He seeks unspecified damages.
Case number: 12-C-172

April 27
Virgiline Giboney vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
PA- James R. Leach; J – Beane
* The plaintiff, a Williamstown resident, is suing the defendant, a Bentonville, Ark.-based business, for injuries she sustained on July 9, 2010, after she fell off a bicycle she purchased at the defendant’s Marietta, Ohio, location that was assembled by a Wal-Mart employee. She seeks unspecified damages.
Case number: 12-C-178

PARKERSBURG – A Wood County woman is alleging a high school football coach took the idea of smash-mouth football too literally.

The Wood County Board of Education is named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit filed May 1 by Lisa Watson. In her suit, Watson, a Parkersburg resident, alleges Dwain Sponseller, an assistant football coach at Parkersburg South High School, not only failed to intervene, but also encouraged a fight between her son, Adam Cross, and another player two years ago during and after a practice.

Sponseller, 28, a Mineral Wells resident, is also named as defendant in the suit.

According to the suit, Adam and another student identified as D.M. got into a dispute on Oct. 29, 2010, before football practice. The nature of the dispute is not stated.

Regardless, Watson alleges, Sponseller “became aware of the dispute between the students before football practice began.” Also, she alleges Sponseller “provoked the hostility between the two students before, during and/or after the practice by taunting the students and by verbally encouraging aggression between D.M. and Cross.”

According to the suit, D.M. approached Adam in the locker room after practice, and “a fist fight ensued wherein Cross was knocked unconscious by blows from D.M.” Sponseller, Watson alleges, “observed the imminent conduct before the fight, observed all or part of the fight, failed to stop the fight [and] failed to summon appropriate medical treatment for Cross after the fight.”

In her suit, Watson maintains Sponseller and the Board owed she and Adam a duty to keep PSHS “in reasonably safe and secure condition.” As a result of the injuries he suffered from the fight with D.M., Watson alleges Adam suffered “physical injury, psychological damages” incurred “medical expenses, pain and suffering, permanent damage, diminution of earning capacity” and “endured a loss of capacity to enjoy his life.”

Watson seeks unspecified damages, court costs, and attorneys fees. She is represented by Parkersburg attorneys James R. Leach and Victoria J. Sopranik.

The case is assigned to Judge Jeffrey B. Reed.

Wood Circuit Court case number 12-C-186

May 1
Adam Cross, by and through his mother, Lisa Watson, and Lisa Watson, individually vs. the Wood County Board of Education and Dwain Sponseller
PA- James R. Leach; J –Reed
* The plaintiffs, a Parkersburg woman, and her son, are suing the defendants, for injuries Adam received on Oct. 20, 2010, in the course of a fight with a fellow student at Parkersburg South High School during and after football practice in which Sponseller, an assistant coach, was aware of and failed to stop. They seek unspecified damages, court costs and attorneys fees.
Case number: 12-C-186

May 3
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 79 Inc. and Chris Morehead vs. the city of Parkersburg, Mayor Robert Newell and Chief of Police Joseph Martin
PA – John E. Triplett; J – Beane
* The plaintiffs are suing the defendants for breach of contract when the city beginning in July 2010 failed to pay police officers longevity increases as specified in the contract they reached the year before. Along with unspecified damages, attorneys fees and interest, the plaintiffs seek an order certifying the lawsuit as class-action status on behalf of all Parkersburg Police officers who are FOP members.
Case number: 12-C-188

PARKERSBURG – A Parkersburg man has served up a lawsuit on the sponsors of an event promoting the area’s culinary expertise.

The Wood County Commission and city of Parkersburg are named as co-defendants in a personal injury suit filed by Earl Khosrovi. In his complaint filed April 16 in Wood Circuit Court, Khosrovi, 37, alleges poor lighting at last year’s “Taste of Parkersburg” event caused him to fall and injury himself.

According to the suit, Khosrovi attended Taste of Parkersburg on Sept. 17, 2011. It was held on an unspecified parking lot in the downtown area.

Sometime between 7:30 and 8 p.m., Khosrovi “tripped on a parking stop on the premises and fell.” His fall, Khosrovi alleges, was a result of inadequate lighting and “no warning that the parking stop was in his path.”

As a result of the fall, Khosrovi alleges he “sustained serious injuries to his leg.”

The commission and the city, Khosrovi says, had a duty “to light the premises or cordon off the parking stops to avoid patrons falling over these.” As a result, Khosrovi alleges he’s incurred medical bills and lost wages, and suffered “pain, suffering and mental anguish.”

The Wood County Development Authority, and Downtown Development Task Force, which co-sponsored the event, are named as co-defendants in the suit.

Khosrovi seeks unspecified damages, interest and courts costs. He is represented by Nathan Vessels with the Marietta, Ohio law firm of Fields, Dehmlow and Vessels.

The case is assigned to Judge Jeffrey B. Reed.

Wood Circuit Court case number 12-C-160

May 4
Carl Eugene Westbrook vs. Noah John Westbrook and Westbrook Drive-In Theatre Inc.
PA – Robert L. Bays; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident, is petitioning the court for dissolution of the Theatre, known as the Jungle Drive-In Theatre on Old St. Marys Pike, due to management differences with Noah that include him paying employees in cash and failing to remit Carl rental income since the death of their mother, Nellie, the co-founder, on Nov. 11, 2001. Along with dissolution, Carl seeks half of any rental income since 2001, $25,000 in compensatory damages, unspecified punitive damages, court costs and attorney fees.
Case number: 12-C-189

May 10
Margaret H. Lynch vs. William John Drury, M.D. and Orthopedic Hospitalists of Parkersburg, Inc.
PA – J. Michael Benniger; J- Beane
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident is suing the defendants for malpractice following complications from surgery on Feb. 18, 2010 to help fix a fractured hip. She seeks unspecified damages, interest, attorneys fees and court costs.
Case number: 12-C-194

PARKERSBURG – The city of Parkersburg’s mayor and police chief say a lawsuit filed against them by a local Fraternal Order of Police lodge is politically motivated.

Robert Newell and Joseph Martin were named as co-defendants in a breach of contract suit filed May 3 by FOP Blennerhasset Lodge 79. In the suit, Chris Morehead, a Parkersburg Police officer, and the Lodge’s president, alleges the city, which is also named as a co-defendant, Newell and Martin, failed to honor its commitment to increase city officers’ longevity pay.

Morehead asks the suit be given class-action status to include all FOP members who are with PPD.

However, Newell, and Martin want to distance themselves from it. In a motion to dismiss filed four days later, they address some the factual allegations raised, but say the suit lacks credibility because it was filed with the intention to embarrass them in advance of the May 8 primary election in hopes of sabotaging their political careers.

Longevity and overtime pay at issue

According to the suit, the current contract between the police and city began on July 1, 2008. During the negotiations that led to it, officers “agreed to give up certain previously enjoyed employment benefits including, but not limited to, minimum time for court time in exchange for the longevity increases and the overtime rates.”

Beginning July 1, 2008, any officer was to receive a “$.30 per hour [increase] for every year of completed service.” The increases were to be paid on the anniversary of his or her hire date.

In the suit, Morehead alleges he and 62 other PPD officers were denied both their longevity increases as well as overtime pay beginning in July 2010. The overtime rate was negotiated at the rate sets by the Fair Labor Standards Act at time and a-half per hour above 40 hours.

The suit makes a total of eight claims against the city, Newell and Martin including breach of contract, violation of the state Wage Payment and Collection Act and constitutional due process. Along with the wages and overtime due them, Morehead and his fellow PPD officers seek punitive damages, court costs, attorneys fees and interest.

They are represented by John E. Triplett, Jr. with the Marietta, Ohio law firm of Theisen Brock.

A political billy club

In their motion, Newell says that he “has never possessed the authority to approve a budge for the Parkersburg Police officers…enter into a wage agreement with members of the FOP or members of the Parkersburg Police Department … [or] approve longevity pay increases.” Though he has “requested pay increases for the City of Parkersburg officers repeatedly during his tenure,” Martin says his role as police chief regarding PPD’s budget “is limited to making recommendations” to Newell and the city council.

Also, Newell and Martin say any blame for reneging on the contract should be directed at the city as the council passed an ordinance last April suspending for a year any longevity pay. The suspension, which still remains in effect, was done to plug a $1 million hole in the city’s budget due to loss of revenue from St. Joseph’s Hospital’s merger with Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, and a 6.5 percent increase in Public Employee Retirement System contribution.

However, the main reason Newell and Martin say they should be dismissed from the suit as it was filed to further a political agenda.

According to Newell and Martin, Morehead and Triplett in March made unsuccessful attempts to get the backing of all 170 FOP members to file the suit. When these efforts failed, the lodge appointed a three-person committee “to examine the issues concerning the wages.”

Between then and May 1, Newell and Martin allege, the three members “never met as a committee and never reported back to the FOP regarding any recommendations concerning the FOP’s involvement in the lawsuit.” During a regularly scheduled lodge meeting May 2, “[t]here was no mention of the lawsuit being filed.”

The day after the suit was filed, Morehead gave an interview in which he was quoted as saying “the entire body of the FOP had voted to proceed with the lawsuit with overwhelming support.” That is a “false, malicious, vengeful and misleading statement,” Newell and Martin say, as the next day an impromptu lodge meeting was held in which 22 of the unspecified number of members present “voted to go forward with the litigation.”

In the suit, Martin avers that he received no notice of the impromptu meeting.

The timing of the suit, Newell and Martin say, is not coincidental. It “is an unethical and illegal abuse of the civil process to attempt to accomplish the goal of influencing the primary election for Mayor of Parkersburg.”

In the Democratic primary, Newell faced Gerald Board, who served as chief of police in Newell’s first administration from 2006 until 2009. Newell won by less than a 100-vote margin, 1,364 to 1,265.

In November’s general election, he faces Sharyn Tallman, a three-term councilwoman.

Along with asking they be dismissed from the suit, Newell and Martin, who was appointed police chief in November 2009, ask that Morehead and Triplett reimburse them for their legal fees and expenses “for this intentionally malicious complaint being filed.” They are represented by former Wood County Prosecutor Ginny A. Conley.

As of presstime, a hearing on Newell’s and Martin’s motion to dismiss was not yet scheduled. The city has yet to file its answer to the suit.

The case is assigned to Judge Jeffrey B. Reed.

Wood Circuit Court case number 12-C-188

PARKERSBURG – The Wood County Board of Education has reached an out-of-court settlement with a Pleasants County couple whose daughter was assaulted by her former teacher.

            The Board on April 9 agreed to pay David W. and Cindy K. Runnion $36,000 following claims they made their daughter, Brenda, suffered emotional distress after she “was the subject of inappropriate physical contact” 18 months ago by Jim Butta, then a teacher at Williamstown High School.  Pursuant to the settlement, the Runnion’s attorney, James I. Stealey, kept $12,000, and the remainder was placed in trust with Allstate Assignment Company to be paid to Brenda in structured payments beginning this December, and for the next two years until 2022.

            The settlement was paid by the Board’s insurance carriers, National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, and Chartis Claims, Inc.  National Union and Chartis also agreed to pay separate from the settlement $600 to Parkersburg attorney Joseph P. McFarland, Jr. for his work as guardian ad litem.
 
           According to court records, the Runnion’s claims stemmed from a Dec. 9, 2010 incident where Butta “came at Brenda with his pen or pencil in his hand holding it in a downward stabbing matter.”  After that he, “[g]rabbed from behind pulling her head against his chest holding her chin with one hand and the pen or pencil with the other hand up to her face and eye.”

            Three months later, Butta was arrested, and charged with one count or disturbance of a school, and one count battery, both misdemeanors.  He was released on $3,000 personal recognizance bond.

            Records show nine months before the incident with Runnion, then 14, another WHS student, Kelli Edman, accused Butta of grabbing her, and chocking her by the neck.  That incident resulted in Butta receiving a reprimand by WHS Principal Pat Peters a week later.

            In August, Butta, who was represented by Parkersburg attorney George Cosenza, reached a plea agreement with the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office.  In exchange for pleading no contest to the disturbing charge, surrendering his teaching certificate and issuing an apology to the Runnion family, it agreed to drop the battery charge.

Records show Magistrate Robin Waters sentenced Butta to 30 days in jail, but suspended it and placed him on one year of unsupervised probation.  As a condition of his probation, Butta, 58, a Parkersburg resident, was ordered not to attend any WHS sporting events in his capacity as a reporter with the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

            Also, he was fined $10, and assessed $170.80 in court costs.

            According to information provided by the Board, Butta began working as a 6th grade teacher in the 1974-75 school year for $7,955.  Prior to surrendering his teaching certificate, Butta retired on Dec. 31, 2010 earning $55,619.

            Following the incident with Butta, Brenda, now 17, transferred to St. Marys High School.

Wood Circuit Court case number: 12-P-43

May 21
Anil J. Patel, Nila A. Patel, Sheel A. Patel and Neil A. Patel vs. United Bank, Inc., Jane T. Sargent, Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company, Ohio National Life Assurance Company and William E. Hess
PA – Paul T. Farrell, Jr.; J – Beane
* The plaintiffs, residents of Vienna, are suing the defendants for breach of fiduciary trust when Sargent — a vice-president, regional manager and senior wealth advisor with United — deceived Anil and Nila into switching several polices in their children’s trust fund from Ohio National to Hartford. They seek unspecified damages, interest, attorneys fees and court costs.
Case number: 12-C-212

May 24
C. Brian Davis vs. Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Group, Inc. and Judy L. Booth
PA – Robert T. and David M. Goldenberg; J – Beane
* The plaintiff is suing the defendants for failing to take a proper urine sample on May 24, 2011, which led to a false positive result in which they reported to the local Ironworkers Union that resulted in Davis being prohibited from working with Grae-Con Construction at the Pleasants Power Station in Belmont. He seeks unspecified damages, attorneys fees and interest.
Case number: 12-C-219

May 29
April Gunnoe Murray and Ashley Gunnoe vs. Joan P. Snider, as the executrix of the estate of Thomas Clinton, deceased
PA –Leslie L. Maze; J – Waters
* The plaintiffs, Clinton’s maternal granddaughters, are petitioning the court to order Snider to complete the final settlement of Clinton’s estate so as to grant them their share of the proceeds of his money market account less expenses of administering the estate. In addition to the court order, they seek recovery of attorneys fees.
Case number: 12-C-226

June 7
Joseph K. Backus vs. the City of Parkersburg, Mayor Robert Newell and Police Chief Joseph Martin
PA – Pro se; J – Waters
* The plaintiff, a Parkersburg resident, is suing the defendants for constitutional violations in conducting a background check on him on an unspecified date, and also for defamation in providing untrue information about him to WTAP-TV 3 and the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. He seeks $12 million in damages.
Case number: 12-C-234

JK Capital, Inc. vs. Paradise Cove Tanning Salon, LLC, Jody L. Bargeloh and R. Bryan Bargeloh
PA – Timothy J. Amos; J – Reed
* The plaintiff, a Craighead, Ark.-based business, is seeking a court order reposing eight pieces of indoor tanning equipment valued at $45,000 after the defendants became $16,495.82 in arrears in their monthly payments. They also seek court costs, and interest.
Case number: 12-C-239

Hayhurst

PARKERSBURG – A disbarred Wood County attorney received a small victory recently on the issue that resulted in the loss of his license – unpaid taxes.

The state Tax Department reached an agreement with Richard A. Hayhurst on June 8 to garnish $400 a month from his paycheck to begin paying down his tax bill. The agreement called for his current employer, Hawkeye Research, Inc. in Harrisville, to remit the Department $200 each pay period, and keep any refunds in an effort to cure an $87,800 arrearage.

The agreement came following an injunction Hayhurst, 63, filed on May 30 in Wood Circuit Court to stop the Department from going forward with the garnishment. In his petition, Hayhurst said the nearly $1,000 the Department wanted to garnish from him monthly “would deprive [him] of exemptions allowed by law and of the ability to pay the sums he has been obligated and ordered to pay the United States Treasury under the aforesaid order of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.”

In November 2009, Hayhurst plead guilty to one count of willful failure to collect and pay over taxes. The charge stemmed from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service that Hayhurst failed to pay taxes totaling $405,000 for three years.

The amount included $8,792.53 in withholding taxes from his former employees of his law firm during the fourth quarter of 2003.

Because he had a prior conviction for tax evasion in 1996, U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston on April 14, 2010, ordered Hayhurst to serve 21 months in prison. Upon his release, Hayhurst was to be placed on supervised release and, as a special condition, pay $500 a month to the IRS.

As a result of his conviction, the state Supreme Court first suspended Hayhurst in June 2010, and then ordered his disbarment in January 2011.

Records show the agreement came following a June 7 hearing before Wood Circuit Judge J.D. Beane, who granted Hayhurst’s motion for a temporary injunction. The agreement stipulated that the $400 would first be applied to principal, and then interest and penalties, and the amount could be reconsidered “in the event that Mr. Hayhurst’s final situation changes in the future.”

Wood Circuit Court case number 12-C-227