CHARLESTON – A former convenience store employee says she was forced to quit her job because of pervasive sexual comments and physical assaults by her supervisor.
Bria Bartley filed her complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Par Mar Oil Company, Shawn Davis, Jennifer Ponchak and Robert P. Smith Jr.
According to her complaint, Bartley worked as a sales associate for Par Mar at a store in St. Albans starting in January 2020. Davis was her supervisor. Bartley says Davis subjected her to an “unbearable hostile work environment rife with sexual comments and physical assaults.”
Some of the comments Davis made to Bartley, according to the complaint, were telling her he liked it when she bent over so he could look at her buttocks, asking her if she had sex toys and suggesting she perform oral sex on him. She says he also touched her buttocks without consent.
Bartley says the harassment didn’t begin until September 2020 when Davis asked her if she wanted a ride to work. He also asked her when she would invite him to her apartment. She says she denied both of those requests.
By the next month, she says Davis’ inappropriate conduct had escalated. He began making sexual comments toward her, such as saying she had a “Kardashian butt” that he liked.
Once, when Bartley was going to be off work for a medical appointment, she says Davis offered to examine her breasts so she could avoid going to the doctor. He also implied Bartley would show customers her breasts to get tips in the tip jar.
In addition, she says Davis harassed female employees by saying things such as, “a woman’s place is in the kitchen” or that women “need to be barefoot and pregnant.”
The comments turned into physical assaults, Bartley claims. She says Davis often aggressively tickled her despite her asking him to stop. He also once slapped her buttocks when she bent over to retrieve an item from the store freezer.
Bartley also says that when she “worked up the courage” to request she work separate shifts from Davis to stop the harassment, Davis retaliated against her with physical violence. That includes throwing a knife at her.
She says she asked Smith, the regional branch manager, for time off to get away from Davis. But, she says that request was refused, and she says Par Mar’s human resources department, including Ponchak, also failed to protect her.
After she asked to not work the same days as Davis, Bartley says Davis retaliated against her with physical aggression. In February 2021, she says Davis threw a thick catalog at her and hit her in the head. She says he also threw a pizza knife at her, almost striking her in the leg.
After a family member contacted Par Mar’s HR department to report Davis’ conduct, Bartley says she again sought help from Smith. She says Smith refused to let her use vacation time. Ponchak told Bartley she would have to ask Davis for days off.
Bartley says she had no other choice but to constructively discharge herself on February 15, 2021.
She accuses the defendants of creating a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, retaliation and constructive discharge. All are violations of the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
Bartley says she has suffered a loss of dignity, embarrassment, humiliation, aggravation and emotional distress. She seeks compensatory damages for past and future economic damages and past and future lost wages as well as punitive damages. She also seeks pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
In the first answer to the complaint, Par Mar as well as Smith and Ponchak deny the allegations and seek to have the case dismissed. In his answer, Davis also denies the claims and seeks to have the case dismissed.
Bartley is being represented by Rodney A. Smith and M. Alex Urban of Rod Smith Law in Charleston. Par Mar, Smith and Ponchak are being represented by Phillip T. Glyptis, Mary-Jo Rebelo and Courtney C. Brennan of Burns White. Davis is being represented by Brian J. Moore and Esha S. Simon of Dinsmore & Shohl.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 21-C-1197