CLARKSBURG –The Carter Roag Coal Company has filed a notice of removal from Harrison Circuit Court.
It involves a former employee suing over improper treatment due to medical leave, and the notice was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, Clarksburg Division, on Aug. 30.
Eric M. Tennant, a former safety director at Cater Roag, filed the initial suit in Harrison Circuit Court. Over the course of his two years with Carter Roag, Tennant had many medical operations, his suit claimed. The first was to remove his gallbladder, and others included a hiatal hernia and the placement of a pyloric stent and an esophagus stent, he alleged. Tennant was approved for 12 weeks leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for his surgeries, but when he returned to work, he found that Carter Roag had cut his pay on multiple occasions, he claims. Tennant resigned on March 11 due to receiving a pay cut of 22 percent upon returning to work in February, he alleges, and he is arguing that his alleged pay cuts upon returning from medical leave were violations of FMLA.
The defendant is arguing that the case be moved from Harrison Circuit Court to federal court, due to its assertion that the federal court has supplemental jurisdiction over all claims related to those in the original jurisdiction.
The defendant is represented by Erin Elizabeth Magee of Jackson Kelly PLLC in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, Clarksburg Division, Case Number 1:16-CV-179