WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

CHARLESTON – A jeweler is suing Reeds Jewelers of North Carolina after he claims it wrongfully removed all of his personal property from a space he was provided at its Charleston store.

Tim Hadden was also named as a defendant in the suit.

Phillip Allen is doing business as Allen’s Jewelry Service.

Phillip Allen began serving as a jeweler on a contract basis with the defendants in 1999, according to a complaint filed Feb. 8 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Allen claims the defendants provided him with a space at Reeds in Charleston and had a clearly marked container for buffing sweeps, clippings, filings and other small pieces of precious metals that were located in his workspace area.

Between June 9 and June 16, Allen was on vacation and when he returned to work, he discovered the container holding the precious metals had been removed from his workspace and that his privately owned equipment in his designated workspace had been tampered with and the clippings, filings, sweeps and other small pieces of precious metals was also removed, according to the suit.

Allen claims he contacted the store manager and was informed that the precious metals had been removed from his workplace by Hadden.

Upon discovering the taking of his property, Allen demanded their immediate return, but was told they had been sold by Reeds in his absence and without his permission and that the monies received, in the approximate amount of $16,000, had been retained by Reeds, according to the suit.

Allen claims he then met with a representative of Reeds management who not only refused to return his property or its value, but also terminated his contract with Reeds.

The defendants terminated Allen’s contract in order to avoid the return of the property wrongfully taken, according to the suit.

Allen is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is being represented by James M. Pierson.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge James C. Stucky.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 13-C-260