ELKINS – A man is suing Lowe’s Home Centers after he claims his employment was terminated and he was discriminated against based on his age.
Chad Corley was also named as a defendant in the suit.
Ronald Rentoul was hired as a department manager in 2004 and relocated from Delaware as a company transfer to the Buckhannon location , according to a complaint filed Dec. 28 in Upshur Circuit Court and removed to federal court on Jan. 29.
Corley began employment as the store manager at the Buckhannon location in April 2015 and Rentoul then began suffering disparate treatment based, at least in part, on his age, according to the suit.
Rentoul claims shortly after Corley began employment, he was written up for smoking on company property, however, he and other employees had been permitted to smoke in the store’s parking lot for 13 years without repercussion and younger employees who were also smoking were not disciplined in any way.
On Jan. 27, 2017, the plaintiff was demoted from management to general laborer due to a company-wide restructure and he then applied to two other full-time management positions, but was informed by Corley he would not be given an interview for the positions, but was not given a reason why, according to the suit.
Rentoul claims in September, he suffered injuries in an automobile accident and missed several days of work due to injuries and treatment. He utilized all of his remaining sick days and produced doctor’s excuses for his missed days, however, he was still disciplined for absences.
On Nov. 7, Rentoul’s employment was terminated when he was told there was no available position for him, however, the next day, the defendants posted the plaintiff’s position and began taking applications to fill the position, according to the suit.
Rentoul claims the defendants discriminated against him based on his age, which violated the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
The plaintiff claims the defendants also violated the Federal and Medical Leave Act because he was in the process of applying for FMLA due to his injuries from the September car accident when his employment was terminated.
Rentoul is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is being represented by Karl Kolenich of Klie Law Offices.
Lowe’s is represented by Eric W. Iskra and Ellen J. Vance of Spilman Thomas & Battle.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 2:18-cv-00012