CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations had expired and a complaint was time-barred.
The Supreme Court affirmed Randolph Circuit Court's Sept. 3, 2020, order granting a motion to dismiss Sadie McCartney's complaint, which was filed in 2018, according to the Jan. 12 memorandum decision by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
McCartney was a student at Elkins High School from Fall 2011 until her graduation in Spring 2016.
McCartney alleged while she was a minor in 2013 and 2014, Mr. Donald Johnson, a media specialist/librarian at the school, pursued an inappropriate relationship with her. She reported this conduct and underwent an interview on July 2, 2014, as part of the investigation into Johnson’s conduct.
Johnson was arrested on July 17, 2014, on a number of charges stemming from criminal conduct and his employment was terminated on Aug. 6, 2014. He was later sentenced and he remains imprisoned.
McCartney's counsel sent a notice of claim the Randolph County superintendent, the West Virginia Board of Education and the West Virginia Attorney General on June 18, 2018, which was McCartney's 20th birthday. Her complaint was filed one month later.
"In response to the complaint, respondent filed a motion to dismiss arguing that venue was improper in Kanawha County and that the complaint was filed after June 18, 2018, the expiration of the statute of limitations," the decision states. "At a hearing before the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, the court determined that venue did not lie in Kanawha County. Since the court determined that venue was improper, it declined to address respondent’s statute of limitations argument."
On Jan. 7, 2020, the court transferred the case to the Circuit Court of Randolph County, and after the case was transferred, the petitioner filed a supplemental response to the motion to dismiss and the respondent submitted additional briefing on the motion.
Randolph Circuit Court dismissed the complaint on Sept. 3, 2020, ruling that the petitioner’s statute of limitations expired on June 18, 2018, and her lawsuit filed on July 18, 2018, was time-barred by the statute of limitations. McCartney then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court declined to find that the circuit court erred when it strictly construed the statute of limitations in the case.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number: 20-0758