Lawsuit against English Rose Bridal Wear by former employee settled

CHARLESTON - A lawsuit filed by a former employee who claimed English Rose Bridal Wear LLC failed to pay her final wages and commission has been settled.

On Jan. 23, a dismissal order was filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Both parties came before the court and advised the court that all claims had been settled, according to the dismissal order.

Genevieve Hudson was employed by the defendant for approximately eight years and consistently performed her duties in a satisfactory manner and met the reasonable expectations of the defendant, according to a complaint filed July 22, 2011, in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Hudson claimed her employment included two weeks of paid vacation per year that became available on Jan. 1 of each year, so in January she took her two weeks of paid vacation for the purpose of having a surgical procedure performed.

After the surgical procedure and after her two weeks of vacation time were up, Hudson took sick leave and remained absent from employment to recover from the surgical procedure, according to the suit.

In February 2011, Hudson claimed she provided the defendant notice that she would be ending her employment and on Feb. 24,  2011, she officially left her employment with the defendant.

On March 9, 2011, the defendant mailed Hudson a summary of her final wages and commissions earned during the months of September 2010 until December 2010, according to the suit.

Hudson claimed the total amount of commissions represented on the final wage summary was severely understated and the defendant failed to pay her for her commissions for certain months during 2010.

The final wage summary also deducted from Hudson’s final wages her two weeks paid vacation and represented that Hudson would not receive any final wages and in fact, owed the defendant $306.99, according to the suit.

Hudson claimed the defendant’s withholding of vacation pay from her final wages constitutes an unauthorized deduction and unauthorized wage assignment in violation of the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act.

The defendant’s failure to pay Hudson’s final wages and commission within a reasonable time also is a violation of the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act, according to the suit.

Hudson was seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. She is being represented by Riley J. Romeo Jr. of Ray, Winton & Kelley PLLC.

The defendant was represented by Paul M. Stroebel of Stroebel & Johnson PLLC.

The case was assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 11-C-1219