Blacksmith sues race track

CHARLES TOWN - A former blacksmith at Charles Town Races and Slots says he was forced to work in an unsafe area and was not paid benefits promised to him.

Bernard Greer is seeking $100,000 in punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages in a lawsuit that he filed Aug. 28 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Penn National Gaming, Inc., doing business as Charles Town Races and Slots, and General Manager Richard Moore are listed as the defendants.

Greer says a horse stomped on his foot while he tried to shoe it on June 4, 2005, and was fired after making a workers' compensation claim.

"The Race Track discriminatively discharged me from employment by reason of my making a claim of compensation after receiving an injury at work," the complaint says.

Greer is representing himself.

"On June 4, 2005, I was repairing a horse's shoe outside the receiving barn and a horse van rounded the end of the barn, startling the horse, causing him to rear up an come down on my foot, resulting in injury," the complaint says. I filled out the necessary forms, obtained a statement from the witness of the accident and went to my supervisor.

"I was released by my treating doctor to return to work in Oct. 2005. However, the Race Track has discharged me for missing work while under a doctor's orders as a result of the injury."

During his employment, Greer also claims he was not given the amount of pay promised to him, insurance benefits requested or vacation benefits earned.

A 2003 meeting with Moore and the other blacksmith, he says, determined shoeing horses in the receiving barn was "extremely dangerous."

Jefferson Circuit Court case number: 06-C-291