Woman sues United Healthcare Services for wrongful termination

CHARLESTON -- A former United Healthcare Services employee is suing after she claims she was wrongfully terminated from her employment.

OptumHealth Care Solutions, Inc.; Melinda Ransom; and David Christian were also named as defendants in the suit.

Jana L. Tudor was employed by the defendants from Feb. 5, 2001, until September 2009 as a registered nurse, according to a complaint filed June 29 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Tudor claims she suffered an injury during the course of her employment on June 24, 2009, while lifting computer equipment needed for her job at her home, where she was authorized by the defendants to conduct her job.

After her injury, Tudor contacted the defendant's corporate office and inqured about filing a Family Medical Leave Act request for absence from work due to the injury and was told she needed to file a workers' compensation claim, so she filed the claim, according to the suit.

Tudor claims after filing the workers' compensation claim, the defendants denied the claim and told her to file a Family Medical Leave Act request with the workers' compensation claim in order to justify her absense from work.

Tudor consulted with her workers' compensation lawyer, who informed her that her injury was a workers' compensation injury and not subject to the FMLA, according to the suit.

The attorney also informed Tudor that it would be fraudulent to pursue a FMLA claim at the same time as she pursued her appeal to the Office of Judges regarding the compensability issue in her workers' compensation claim, according to the suit.

Tudor claims despite what the workers' compensation lawyer told her, the defendants continued to threaten her with termination of employment if she did not file the FMLA claim.

The defendants wrongfully terminated Tudor's employment in September 2009, according to the suit.

Tudor is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is being represented by Timothy P. Rosinsky.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tod J. Kaufman.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 11-C-1088