The board voted June 6 to grant $6,000 in back wages and $12,000 for attorneys fees to Debora Rose, who filed a lawsuit against the board in March 2015. The money will be paid by the board’s insurance carrier.
In her lawsuit, Rose alleged that during her employment, she faithfully and accurately swiped her personally-identifying card at the appropriate times so as to record only time for which she permitted to work by the defendant and that she also followed the directions of her immediate supervisor and had swiped in and out upon the beginning and ending of each individual task throughout the day.
For a period of time, Rose kept and maintained her own, hand-written and accurate records of the times at which she would swipe her card through the electronic time clock, according to the suit. Rose began making her own records when she suspected she was not being paid for all the hours she was actually working.
Rose alleged that Peggy Whitaker, her supervisor, pursued a pattern of conduct in violation of the defendants' own policies and undertaken in retaliation for her notification to Whitaker of her belief that she was not being paid properly.
Rose also alleged that the supervisor broke policy by requiring her to clock in and out “not only at the beginning and ending of each bus trip, but also upon the beginning and ending of each individual task performed throughout the day that results in creditable working time.”
Rose was represented by Mark A. Toor.
The case is assigned to District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:15-cv-02473