This Just In: Kanawha County

Jan. 25
Nancy Barker v. The City of Charleston and The Goldfarb Electric Supply Company
PA – Larry O. Ford; J – Stucky
* Barker filed a suit against the city after she tripped on a sidewalk on the edge of property owned by Goldfarb Electric Supply.
Barker was walking down Quarrier Street when she fell on a raised portion of the concrete, causing several injuries, including a fractures patella. She seeks compensatory damages.
Case number 07-C-170

Jan. 26
Rojak Matyas v. West Virginia Division of Corrections; Jim Rubenstein, Commissioner; Darrell McGraw, Attorney General
PA – Michael D. Payne; J – Berger
* Matyas filed the suit against the Division of Corrections, claiming his random drug test results were incorrect. Matyas claims he was falsely imprisoned. Due to the positive drug test Matyas was placed in Huttonsville Correctional Facility, where he claims he was the victim of physical and sexual threats. He seeks punitive damages.
Case number 07-C-176

Quinton Gifford v. West Virginia Division of Corrections; Jim Rubenstein, Commissioner; Darrell McGraw, Attorney General
PA - Michael D. Payne; J – Berger
* Gifford filed the suit against the Division of Corrections, claiming his random drug test results were incorrect. Gifford claims he was falsely imprisoned. Due to the positive drug test Gifford was placed in Huttonsville Correctional Facility, where he claims he was the victim of physical and sexual threats. He seeks punitive damages.
Case number 07-C-177

Timothy Blake Parsons v. West Virginia Division of Corrections; Jim Rubenstein, Commissioner; Darrell McGraw, Attorney General
PA – Michael D. Payne; J - King
* Parsons filed the suit against the Division of Corrections, claiming his random drug test results were incorrect. Parsons claims he was falsely imprisoned. Due to the positive drug test Parsons was placed in Huttonsville Correctional Facility, where he claims he was the victim of physical and sexual threats. He seeks punitive damages.
Case number 07-C-178

Robert Miller v. West Virginia Division of Corrections; Jim Rubenstein, Commissioner; Darrell McGraw, Attorney General
PA – Michael D. Payne; J – Zakaib
* Miller filed the suit against the Division of Corrections, claiming his random drug test results were incorrect. Miller claims he was falsely imprisoned. Due to the positive drug test Miller was placed in Huttonsville Correctional Facility, where he claims he was the victim of physical and sexual threats. He seeks punitive damages.
Case number 07-C-179

Yvonne Perkins v. The Kroger Co.
PA - Cynthia M. Ransom; J – Walker
* Perkins filed a suit against Kroger after she fell in the parking lot of the Kanawha Mall store in Kanawha City. She claims the parking lot had holes, which caused her fall. She fractured her ankle and has acquired medical bills because of her fall. Perkins seeks compensatory and general damages.
Case number 07-C-180

Steven W. Smith v. The State of West Virginia, West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, West Virginia Division of Corrections, Mount Olive Correctional Center and Thomas McBride
PA – Charles M. Love IV; J – Berger
* Smith is a correctional officer at Mount Olive Correctional Center. On July 15, 2006, he was attacked by an inmate. Because of a door malfunction, no one was able to get to Smith to help him. Smith was bitten, beaten and assaulted with a fire extinguisher. The suit claims the malfunctioning lock on the door was made known to people in the jail. Smith seeks compensatory damages.
Case number 07-C-190

Jan. 29
Charles B. Donegia and Melanie S. Donegia, his wife, individually and in her capacity as parent and next friend of Laura Donegia, an infant, Viola Donegia, an infant, Miranda Donegia, an infant, Emily Donegia, an infant, and Rebecca Donegia, an infant v. International Coal Group, Wolf Run Mining Company formerly known as Anker West Virginia Mining Company, Inc.
PA – Bradley R. Oldaker; J – Walker
* The Donegias filed a suit after Charles Donegia was injured in a mine rib collapse at Sago Mine in Buckhannon. The suit claims pre-shift inspections were not made, which might have prevented the rib collapse. They seek compensatory and punitive damages.
Case number 07-C-193

John G. Hicks v. The Bombay Company Inc.
PA – Pro Se; J – Stucky
* Hicks filed the suit against his employer, Bombay Company, after he was injured on the job. Hicks was a store manager, and his job duties required him to move heavy furniture and merchandise on a regular basis. While performing those duties, he says he was severely injured. Hicks seeks compensatory judgment damages.
Case number 07-C-200

Michael Dennis v. West Virginia Parole Board, an instrumentality of the state of West Virginia, and Benita Murphy, in her official capacity as Chairperson of the West Virginia Parole Board
PA – Andrew M. Price; J - Stucky
* Dennis filed a suit against the parole board, claiming he was not credited for time he already had served. At the time of this parole hearing, he had served more than four years, and the suit claims those years were not subtracted from a new parole date. Dennis seeks a write of mandamus, ordering credit to his sentence.
Case number 07-C-209

Jan. 31
Karen Simms v. REM Community Options Inc. and Matthew Grubb
PA – Roger D. Forman; J – Bloom
* Simms was employed by REM Community Options as a caregiver. She was employed to provide home health services to Michael Tolley. Tolley required a wheelchair. On May 17, 2005, Simms fell off the sidewalk at Tolley's house, as she was attempting to prevent him from falling off the edge of the sidewalk, and was injured. Simms claims the sidewalk was dangerously elevated for a wheelchair and REM's behavior to assign her to the location constituted a deliberate intent to injure. Simms seeks compensation for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.
Case number 07-C-214

Doris Cowgill v. Old Colony Company, Kathy Schrader and Michael Levy
PA – Kelly Elswick-Hall; J – Kaufman
* Cowgill filed the suit after she was injured while visiting a home for sale by Old Colony. While walking around the house, Cowgill slipped and broke a fibula, for which she had to have surgery. The suit says the homeowners were negligent because there was a slippery substance on the property which caused Cowgill to fall. She seeks compensatory damages, interest and court fees.
Case number 07-C-220

Feb. 1
Teresa Green v. Rite-Aid of West Virginia Inc.
PA – G. Patrick Jacobs; J – Bloom
* During a visit to the Rite-Aid at 3801 MacCorkle Ave. in Charleston, Green was exiting a Rite-Aid store when she slipped and fell in the parking lot, and was injured. Green seeks compensatory damages.
Case number 07-C-224

Edward Reed v. West Virginia Steel Corporation
PA – Michael D. Payne; J – Kaufman
* Reed filed the case against his former employer, claiming he was a victim of racial harassment while working at West Virginia Steel. Reed was the only minority employed by the company and claims the work environment was filled with racist slurs, taunts, remarks, assaults and racist motifs displayed around the work place.
Reed claims his supervisor knew about the environment and did nothing about it. He seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Case number 07-C-227