CHARLESTON – A former employee says he was wrongfully terminated and discriminated against by Brewer & Company of West Virginia.
Ralph E. Dunlap filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against the company. In its answer, the company denies the allegations and seeks to have the case dismissed.
In his complaint, Dunlap says he worked for Brewer & Company for eight years and consistently performed his duties in a satisfactory manner. He says he suffered from mental and/or physical impairments that limited his activities somewhat. Those include anxiety disorder and panic disorder. While able and competent, he says this qualifies him as disabled under the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
He says he sought reasonable accommodation for his disability, but he says the defendant “ultimately rejected” it and failed to engage in an interactive process.
Dunlap says he was fired March 27, 2020. The reasons given to him were pretextual, according to the complaint. He claims he was fired because of his disability and because of his age. He was 54 when he was fired, and he said the people who replaced him are substantially younger and less qualified than he is for the job.
He accuses Brewer & Company of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, age discrimination, retaliation and violations of the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
He seeks compensatory damages for lost wages, benefits, back pay and front pay as well as for indignity, embarrassment, humiliation, annoyance and inconvenience. He also seeks punitive damages, pre-judgment interest, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
He is being represented by Peter L. Frampton Jr. of Atkinson & Polak in Charleston. Brewer & Company, which is a fire protection contractor, is being represented by Brian J. Moore and Chandler E. Strogen of Dinsmore & Shohl’s Charleston office. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 20-C-478