HUNTINGTON – A Cabell County man is suing Verizon Wireless after he claims his employment was wrongfully terminated.
Cellco Partnership is doing business as Verizon Wireless.
In 2006, Frankie Adkins was hired by Verizon and held various positions during his employment, including senior representative, sales representative and experience specialist, according to a complaint filed April 5 in Cabell Circuit Court and removed to federal court on May 5.
Adkins claims he met or exceeded the reasonable expectation of the defendant during his employment.
In January 2016, the defendant’s representative and Adkins’ supervisor, told him that it would be a good thing for him to attend speech therapy to improve his speech and further indicated that Adkins’ speech was preventing him from obtaining certain promotions and/or other wise advancing further with the company, according to the suit.
Adkins claims he does not have a diagnose of any speech impediment, nor had he ever received any indication from any medical professional in the past that his speech was an issue.
Nevertheless, because he believed his position and future with the defendant was in jeopardy if he did not comply and he attended sessions at Kings Daughters Medical Center and Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, according to the suit.
Adkins claims following his attendance of speech therapy, he sought a promotion and was refused.
The defendant then blamed Adkins for errors made by his co-workers, and issued write-ups to Adkins for mistakes that were not his, according to the suit.
Adkins claims in Summer 2016, the manager of the defendant’s Ashland store and another male employee began to send pictures of their genitalia to a female employee at the Ashland location and the male employees also repeatedly made sexual remarks to the female employee.
The female employee advised Adkins of the treatment, showed Adkins the photos she had received and then told the plaintiff that she now had “job security,” according to the suit.
Adkins claims he did not report the pictures for fear of being retaliated against, however, shortly thereafter, his employment was terminated.
The defendant wrongfully terminated Adkins’ employment and discriminated against him based on a perceived disability, according to the suit.
Adkins is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is being represented by Hoyt Glazer of the Law Office of Hoyt Glazer.
Verizon is represented by Richard W. Gallagher and E. Ryan Kennedy of Robinson & McElwee.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 3:17-cv-02772