CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled that a Randolph County Board of Education employee who filed a grievance in 2017 did so outside the time limit imposed by state statute.
The court concluded that the circuit court did not err when it affirmed the Grievance Board's initial denial of Melissa Wilfong's grievance, according to the April 22 opinion.
Justice Beth Walker authored the majority opinion.
Walker
"Because Ms. Wilfong filed her grievance outside the time limitation imposed by West Virginia Code § 6C-2- 4(a)(1), we affirm the circuit court’s order," Walker wrote.
Wilfong held a unique position at Valley Head Elementary School as a half-time principal and half-time teacher for approximately six years until she was notified that the school would be closing at the end of 2016-17 school year. Wilfong was ineligible for direct transfer because of her unique position, but she was approved for transfer by the Board of Education and told that she would need to submit applications for which she would be an automatic applicant,
Wilfong declined to participate in the application process or be interviewed for several administrative positions that became available in the spring and summer of 2017. She applied for a principal position at George Ward Elementary School in June 2017, but was ultimately not chosen for the position. In July 2017, she applied for a remedial specialist position at Tygarts Valley Middle and High School and was hired in that position.
She then filed a grievance on the same day she was hired for the position, arguing that the board failed to place her in an administrative position. The board argued that she should have filed the grievance within 15 days of receiving her letter on April 20 that stated she had not yet been assigned a position for the upcoming school year, but she claimed she wasn't aggrieved until she knew that she was not being placed in an administrative position.
The Grievance Board agreed with the Board of Education and denied the grievance. Wilfong then appealed to Kanawha Circuit Court, which also affirmed the decision. Wilfong then appealed to the state Supreme Court.
"Here, the Board unequivocally notified Ms. Wilfong that it could not assign her to any position on April 20, 2017," Walker wrote. "That decision was the event giving rise to her grievance. As such, the Board fully apprised Ms. Wilfong of the facts giving rise to her grievance in the April 20 letter, so that was the date on which the fifteen-day time limitation for filing a grievance under West Virginia Code § 6C-2-4(a)(1) began to run."
Walker wrote that by filing her grievance on Aug. 1, 2017, Wilfong filed outside the limit imposed by that statute.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number: 18-0776