Charleston Job Corps Center
CHARLESTON – A North Carolina woman says the Charleston Job Corps Center is at least partly to blame for the miscarriage of her twins.
According to the suit filed Jan. 4 in Kanawha Circuit Court, Nichole King was a minor and a student at the center, located at 1000 Kennawa Drive, on Jan. 9, 2003, when she went to Charleston Area Medical Center "complaining of cramping, vaginal bleeding and other alarming symptoms ostensibly related to her 'high risk' pregnancy."
By 3 p.m., the suit says, she had miscarried her twin fetuses because of a bacterial infection or other complication from her high-risk pregnancy.
In the suit, filed by attorney Henry E. Wood III, King says the Job Corps Center, its employees and supervisors had "a duty to oversee the health care needs of the plaintiff and specifically needs for the same care incidental/required by her high risk pregnancy."
"Job Corps failed to discharge its duty of care to the plaintiff by not responding appropriately to complaints by the plaintiff of pregnancy related problems and by failing to transport the (then) minor plaintiff to both prenatal and other scheduled care visits, among other acts or omissions of negligence and/or acts/omissions in conflict with said defendant policy/procedures for the care of students who struggle with high risk pregnancy issues," the suit alleges.
King claims the Job Corps Center breached its duty of care and was negligent. That, she says, contributed to and/or caused the miscarriage and loss of her twin fetuses.
"As direct and proximate result of the loss of twin fetus by the plaintiff, she has suffered loss of fellowship, society and companionship and suffered great pain and mental/emotional suffering elements and continues to suffer from the loss of her unborn children," the suit states.
King, who turned 20 on Jan. 10, seeks compensatory damages to be determined by a jury plus attorney fees, court costs and other relief. She seeks a jury trial.
Job Corps is the nation's largest residential, education and job training program for at-risk youth ages 16 through 24. Since its inception in 1964, Job Corps has provided more than 2 million at-risk young people with academic, vocational, and social training needed to gain independence and get quality, long-term jobs or further their education.
Locally, the Charleston Job Corps Center gives students the opportunity to earn a GED, high school diploma and college education opportunities available at West Virginia State University. The center has specialized hands-on training in a variety of fields such a automotive mechanics, culinary arts and painting. And it has work-based learning opportunities with more than 50 local businesses.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Charlie King.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 06-C-9