Ntelos settles wrongful termination lawsuit

CHARLESTON - A lawsuit filed by a former employee against Ntelos of West Virginia after she claimed her employment was wrongfully terminated has been settled.

Amanda Doss and Pam McGowan, employees of Ntelos of West Virginia, were also named as defendants in the suit.

On March 1, an agreed dismissal order was filed in Kanawha Circuit Court, wherein the plaintiff and the defendants informed the court that all matters had been fully compromised and settled.

On April 27, 2011, Kathy J. Pauley was terminated from her employment at Ntelos of West Virginia after approximately six years of employment, according to a complaint filed Sept. 2, 2011, in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Pauley claimed the defendant prepared a release agreement, which purported to provide her with a severance package in exchange for a “release and covenant not to sue” the defendants.

On May 16, Pauley signed the release agreement, according to the suit, but the release agreement “was not knowing and voluntary under West Virginia law and cannot serve to waive any right or claim under the West Virginia Human Rights Act.”

Pauley claimed the defendants terminated her employment because of her gender and caused her embarrassment and humiliation.

The defendants’ actions violated the West Virginia Human Rights Act and were willful and malicious, according to the suit.

Pauley was seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre-judgment interest. She was being represented by Mark A. Atkinson of Atkinson & Polak PLLC.

The defendants were represented by Anders W. Lindberg and Jessica L. Wiley of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 11-C-1524