PRINCETON – A Mercer County man says his former employer, F-5 Investigations, owes him more than $1,500 for unpaid wages.
Michael Blankenship filed the suit on May 15 in Mercer Circuit Court against the company and David White, citing violations of the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act.
According to the complaint, Michael Blankenship repossessed vehicles for F-5 Investigations until his termination in mid-March. When Blankenship asked manager White about his final paycheck, White allegedly said it was diverted to cover an insurance deductible on a truck damaged weeks earlier as Blankenship picked up a vehicle. The suit states that the defendants knew or should have known that the diversion of wages is illegal.
Blankenship seeks a jury trial and treble damages for the gross wages, totaling $6,000, plus interest and litigation costs. He is represented by Princeton attorney Kathryn Reed Bayless of the Bayless Law Firm. Circuit Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn is assigned to the case.
Mercer Circuit Court case number 15-C-180-OA