Order granted Aetna's motion to dismiss in lawsuit filed by former employee

CHARLESTON - An order granting Aetna Building Maintenance's motion to dismiss was filed in 2011 in a lawsuit filed by a former employee who claimed his employment was wrongfully terminated.

The order was filed on Aug. 5, 2011. Aetna had previously filed a Motion to Dismiss and Combined Memorandum of Law in Support Thereof on April 22, 2011.

On June 21, 2011, the court entered an Order Setting Briefing Deadlines and Scheduling Conference, which required that any response to Aetna's Motion to Dismiss be filed within 14 days. On July 12, 2011, per the court's order, counsel for Aetna provided the court with a proposed order which granted Aetna's Motion to Dismiss.

"No proposed order in opposition to Aetna's Motion to Dismiss was received from or on behalf of Plaintiff. Plaintiff also filed no response in opposition to Aetna's Motion to Dismiss," the order states.

On Aug. 2, 2011, a scheduling conference was held before the Court and counsel for Aetna appeared, but David L. Lottig Jr., the plaintiff, failed to appear.

The complaint fails to identify any legal basis for relief or any facts in support thereof and, although the complaint suggests Lottig was fired, he failed to identify any specific wrongdoing by Aetna, according to the dismissal order.

Lottig worked for Aetna when he claimed his supervisor began changing employees’ work hours by removing anything more than 40 hours of work, according to a complaint filed March 22, 2011, in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Lottig claimed the supervisor was falsifying documents and refused to give him payment for hours he worked over 40.

The defendant then transferred Lottig out of the Bayer plant because he was “singing loudly in the basement,” when he thought everyone had already left work for the day, according to the suit.

Lottig claimed they later suspended him for three days and then terminated his employment, claiming he had stolen a laptop from work. Lottig claimed he did not take the laptop.

Lottig was seeking judgment in an amount to be determined by the court. He was representing himself.

Aetna was represented by Charles K. Gould of Jenkins Fenstermaker PLLC.

The case was assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 11-C-472