Michael Lewis was also named as a defendant in the suit.
Robert Romeo began his employment at Precision in 1997 and in 2007, Precision was sold to Three Rivers Group and he agreed to stay with the company beginning in March 2007, according to a complaint filed March 14 in Tyler Circuit Court and removed to federal court on April 27.
Romeo claims his agreement was modified in 2011 to include commissions and a base salary and on Aug. 21, he received an e-mail from Precision setting forth new quotas and sales targets.
The new goals needed to be realized by the end of September and on Aug. 27, less than a week after the new sales quotas were given to Romeo, Lewis contacted him and asked if he would retire, according to the suit.
Romeo claims when he stated that he was not ready to retire, Lewis advised him that his employment was being terminated.
The plaintiff was 64 at the time of his termination and Romeo’s age was a factor in the defendants’ decision to terminate his employment, according to the suit. The defendants’ termination of his employment was wrongful.
Romeo claims the defendants also failed to pay his final wages in full.
The defendants’ actions violated the West Virginia Human Rights Act and the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act, according to the suit.
Romeo is seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre-judgment interest. He is being represented by Richard W. Walters of Shaffer & Shaffer PLLC.
The defendants are represented by J. Todd Bergstrom and Richard M. Wallace of Littler Mendelson PC.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 5:16-cv-00057