Nurse files age discrimination, retaliation suit

CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County nurse is suing over claims she was fired due to her age and in retaliation for a complaint about patient care.

Delma Faye Pearson filed a lawsuit Oct. 28 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Beverly Enterprises-West Virginia Inc., doing business as Golden Living Center-Riverside; GGNSC St. Albans; GGNSC Clinical Services; Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services Inc.; Jennifer Jeffries and Adrianna Mynhier, citing age discrimination.

According to the complaint, Pearson was employed by Riverside, which is collectively operated by the defendant companies, as a licensed practical nurse, when she made a complaint about patient care issues to executive director Jeffries and director of nurses Mynhier. Pearson says she was also the subject of discriminatory and harassing comments about her age, which was 59 at the time of the complaint, made by coworkers and even supervisors, including Jeffries and Mynhier.

The lawsuit states management began retaliating against her after the complaint, and she was fired shortly after on Aug. 21, 2013, due to the complaint and her age. The defendants are accused of unlawful age discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act and unlawful discrimination or retaliation in violation of the West Virginia Patient Safety Act.

Pearson seeks actual and punitive damages, including back pay, front pay, attorney fees and interest.

She is represented by attorneys C. Benjamin Salango, Dan R. Snuffer and Patrick Joseph Salango of Preston & Salango in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tod J. Kaufman.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 14-C-1935