CHARLESTON — A former employee is suing the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety alleging that she was wrongfully terminated.
Annette Daniels-Watts filed the lawsuit against WVDMAPS and Scott Patterson, who was also employed by WVDMAPS, claiming she was terminated for gross misconduct even though she claims she was not at fault for a racist photo taken of a training class, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Daniels-Watts went to the office of Jennifer Parsons on Nov. 26, 2019, and discovered a photograph of the 18th Training Class in which the cadets were performing a Nazi salute at Sgt. Karrie Byrd with the caption, "Hail Byrd!" When Parsons asked her thoughts on the photograph, Daniels-Watts said it was racist and terrible.
"During this brief interaction, there was no discussion between plaintiff and Jennifer Parsons about the possible distribution of the photograph, and plaintiff issued no specific directives to Jennifer Parsons about the disposition of this photograph other than to advise of her strong disapproval of its content," the complaint states.
The following day, the plaintiff was informed that the photograph had been seen by agency officials and a meeting was to be held about it on Dec. 2, 2019. At the meeting, she was not advised of any disciplinary actions to be taken against her. She was then terminated on Dec. 6, 2019.
That day, three were fired and 34 were suspended without pay following the release of the photo, which was called "completely inappropriate" as well as "distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive" by DMAPS Cabinet Secretary Jeff Sandy.
Later in the month, Gov. Jim Justice announced class trainer Karrie Byrd and the entire cadet class were fired following an investigation. The photo was to be distributed with graduation packets despite complaints from at least three staffers. Investigators found other photos of cadets displaying offensive hand gestures on social media.
Daniels-Watts is seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. She is represented by Kurt Entsminger and Phillip Estep of Estep Entsminger Law Group.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Louis Bloom.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 21-C-281
