HUNTINGTON — A woman says the Wayne County Commission refused to enforce mask-wearing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, forcing her to use unpaid leave and eventually losing her job.
Patricia Romans was a clerk for the Wayne County Commission who suffered from COPD, according to a December 10 complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Romans claims she also has several other health problems and she requested to work from home when Gov. Jim Justice issued a stay-at-home order for all non-essential workers in March. She claims the commission did not enforce masks and did not respond to her request to work from home.
The plaintiff requested that employees be required to wear their masks and she was openly mocked for wearing hers, according to the suit.
Romans had her physician complete his portion of an application for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave in July and she was off work from July 28 until October 28 and was supposed to return to work October 29.
Romans spoke with her supervisor, Laura Porter, on October 27, to ask if employees were complying with the state's mask mandate and Porter told her that they were not. She then left a message for Sheriff Rick Thompson to call her back.
On October 29, Romans received a certified letter from Thompson informing her that her employment was terminated.
"In terminating Ms. Romans, the defendants made absolutely no reasonable attempt to communicate with Ms. Romans, or, as asserted below, attempt to determine a reasonable accommodation, one of which would have simply been to enforce the existing mask mandate the Defendants blatantly ignored," the complaint states.
Romans claims she was discriminated against because of her medical condition and for exercising her rights. She claims the defendants' actions violated the FMLA and the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
As a result of the defendants' intentional, discriminatory and retaliatory acts against her, Romans suffered a loss of earnings and other employment benefits, according to the suit.
Romans is seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. She is represented by Hoyt Glazer, Abraham J. Saad and Eric Anderson of Glazer Saad Anderson in Huntington.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 3:20-cv-00797