CHARLESTON – A St. Albans home improvement company is denying a black man's allegations in a lawsuit filed earlier this year that he was fired from his job on his first day without reason or justification.
In its two-page answer filed June 28 in Kanawha Circuit Court to the allegations of former employee Chris Smith, Alford Home Solutions Inc. says Smith's employment was terminated "for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons." Smith "by word and deed" had "expressed disinterest in the work assignment that he had been given," Alford Home Solution's answer said.
In his own complaint, the former warehouse worker claims Alford Home Solutions violated the West Virginia Human Rights Act when the company fired him. Smith claims he arrived for work March 12 and that he received a text message from human resources the same day telling him not to return to work.
Alford Home Solutions' answer to Smith's lawsuit was filed on behalf of the company by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania attorney Avrum Levicoff.