CHARLESTON – A Putnam County woman says she was forced to quit her job at Moses Nissan because of a sexually charged hostile and abusive work environment.
Rustyn Booth originally filed her complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Moses Nissan LLC. It later was removed to federal court by the defendant, which denies the allegations and seeks to have the case dismissed.
According to the complaint, Booth worked as a clerk in the parts department at Moses Nissan in St. Albans from April 2019 until November 16, 2020, when she says she was constructively discharged. She said the behavior of her supervisor, the parts manager, forced her to resign.
Thomas H. Peyton
| peytonlawfirm.com
She says her manager made comments to her such as, “Hurry up, beautiful. I need my morning tushy fix” and “Gloss those lips up and come upstairs baby, and I’ll give you something to do.”
In addition, Booth says she worked in excess of 40 hours per week, but she was not given overtime pay. Thus, she says she also wasn’t paid minimum wage during certain pay periods.
She accuses the defendant of sexual harassment, hostile work environment and infliction of emotional distress as well as of unpaid overtime wages and minimum wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Booth seeks compensatory damages for lost wages, loss of employment benefits, aggravation, annoyance, inconvenience, humiliation, embarrassment, emotional and mental distress and loss of personal dignity. She also seeks punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, liquidated damages as provided by the FLSA and other relief.
Booth is being represented by Thomas Peyton of Peyton Law Firm in Nitro. Moses Nissan is being represented by Kevin Carr and Sarah Kowalkowski of Spilman Thomas & Battle in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:21-cv-00564 (Kanawha Circuit Court case number 21-C-822)