Former radio manager sues WKLC

CHARLESTON - A former employee is suing WKLC Inc. for allegedly breaching its contract with him and failing to pay his final wages in a timely manner.

Reggie Jordan moved to West Virginia from Washington in winter 2010/2011 upon inducement of the defendant's principal, Lynn Martin, to manage radio stations, according to a complaint filed Aug. 22 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Jordan claims the defendant promised a guaranteed base salary; a monthly and/or quarterly bonus for exceeding sales goals; a bonus based on cash flow; a monthly expense account; and health insurance and other benefits.

Martin laid out the initial budgets for the radio station it wanted Jordan to manage before he accepted the job offer and promised to raise Jordan's base salary after the first year of the three-year contract conditioned upon certain billing and collection goals, according to the suit.

Jordan claims on Feb. 27, 2011, he began working for the defendant and several times during his employment, he requested budgets and profit-loss statements from the defendant, through Martin, but no one provided the budgets or statements to him.

Aside from two bonuses in the spring and summer of 2011, Jordan never received any bonuses or raises, according to the suit.

Jordan claims he never received any budgets or statements, despite requesting them, and was thus working "blind" and attempting to meet goals without any idea of what the goals actually were.

WKLC terminated Jordan's employment with a year still left in the agreed-upon employment contract on Feb. 17, and indicated he did not achieve the goals contained in the budgets, which Jordan never saw, without providing any statements to him to demonstrate his alleged shortfall, according to the suit.

Jordan claims the defendant failed to pay his final wages and benefits within 72 hours of discharge, violating the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act.

The defendant's actions were also a breach of contract and caused Jordan damages, according to the suit.

Jordan is seeking an accounting, including budgets, profit and loss statements, balance sheets and any and all other accounting or bookkeeping relating to the stations Jordan managed; wages, bonuses and benefits due with interest; and compensatory damages. He is being represented by Lonnie C. Simmons and Elizabeth G. Kavits of DiTrapano, Barrett, DiPiero, McGinley & Simmons PLLC.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Louis H. Bloom.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 13-C-1607