HUNTINGTON – A Kentucky woman alleges she resigned from her position with Cabell County Emergency Medical Services because she did not want to be fired for participating "in activity she considered unlawful."
Tracey S. McComas filed a complaint Oct. 18 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against the County Commission of Cabell County, Cabell County Emergency Medical Services and CCEMS Director Gordon Merry III alleging violation of the West Virginia public policy and the West Virginia Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff was hired in 2008 by the defendants as an office administrator for CCEMS. The suit states that CCEMS has multiple phone lines and that it monitored and recorded telephone conversations for all lines, but the plaintiff alleges she and other employees were only aware that conversations on the line used to arrange patient transport were recorded.
She alleges she was called into a meeting June 17 with Merry and other individuals regarding a phone conversation she had with her husband discussing a potential relocation and learned that all conversations were being recorded. She alleges she "expressed her discomfort" with practice and considered it unlawful. The suit states she resigned the same day "to avoid being fired for her refusal to participate in activity she considered unlawful."
The plaintiff holds County Commission of Cabell County, Cabell County Emergency Medical Services and Merry responsible because the defendants allegedly intentionally intercepted plaintiff's and other employees' wire communications.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks all damages provided by law, plus interest, attorneys’ fees and costs for this action and any further relief as the court may deem as just and equitable. She is represented by Mark Goldner and Maria W. Hughes of Hughes & Goldner PLLC in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:17-cv-04178