FAYETTEVILLE — A woman is suing the Fayette County Board of Education after she says she was terminated for taking a prescription medication.
Mariah Smutko filed the lawsuit against the board and Margaret Pennington, claiming she was hired on Aug. 25 as a substitute special education teacher and had disclosed her medical condition to the defendant, which she was assured would have no effect on her employment and she began working on Aug. 26, according to the complaint filed in Fayette Circuit Court.
Smutko claims she was required to submit to a drug and alcohol screen and prior to taking the test, she again informed the board that she had been diagnosed with a medical condition that required prescription medication, however, when her drug screening came back positive, she attempted to provide evidence to Pennington, who refused the documentation, and her employment was then terminated.
The plaintiff claims the defendants caused her to suffer emotional distress and economic damages. She claims they caused her to suffer mental distress, humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, annoyance and inconvenience.
Smutko is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is represented by Travis A. Griffith of Griffith Law Center in Charleston.
Fayette Circuit Court case number: 21-C-1