MARTINSBURG — Cascade Auto Wholesalers and three other defendants in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed a petition Feb. 3 to move the case from Berkeley Circuit Court to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Martinsburg Division.
In the original complaint from Dec. 29, Beth A. Markley accused her former employer, Cascade Auto Wholesalers Inc., and three co-workers, Eric Royer, Samuel T. Royer III and Joseph Weigler, of sexual harassment and paying her less than male employees for the same kind of work.
According to Markley’s complaint, she was not paid wages owed to her, in addition to being sexually harassed by Weigler. When she complained about the wages and alleged harassment, the suit says she was terminated in retaliation.
The defendants are seeking to move the case to a higher court because the claims involve alleged violations of two federal laws, the Equal Pay Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The removal petition also argues that the harassment claims should be decided in federal jurisdiction because they arise from the other claims regarding wages.
Markley seeks a jury trial and damages in excess of $2,500. She is represented by attorney Garry G. Geffert of Martinsburg. Cascade Auto and the other defendants are represented by attorneys Brian M. Peterson and J. Tyler Mayhew of Bowles Rice LLP in Martinsburg. Judge Gina M. Groh has been assigned to the case.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Martinsburg Division Case number 3:16-cv-00014