CHARLESTON — A complaint against Panther Creek Mining was removed to federal court and a protective order has been filed in the case.
"If a party or an attorney for a party has a good faith belief that certain documents or other materials (including digital information) subject to disclosure pursuant to a discovery or other request, are confidential and should not be disclosed other than in connection with this action and pursuant to this Protective Order, the party or attorney shall mark each such document or other material as 'confidential,'" the April 26 protective order filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia states.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn also ordered that in the post-discovery phase, within 30 days after the conclusion of the action, each party must gather the confidential materials and related notes and memoranda and return them to the party or attorney who originally disclosed them.
The lawsuit, which was originally filed in December, was removed to federal court on Feb. 8. Mark Grounds filed the lawsuit against Panther Greek Mining alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Grounds was employed by the defendant from Aug. 21, 2005, until Jan. 27, 2020, and held various positions over the years. In 2019, Grounds' annual salary was $109,508.25, according to the suit.
Grounds claims tools that he had purchased with his own money were broken in October 2019 and requested the tools be replaced, but the tools have still not been replaced. He claims on Dec. 30, 2019, he was involved in an accident and lost parts of two of his fingers.
Less than one month later, his employment was terminated and he claims it was because of his injuries from the accident, as he was on light duty until Jan. 22, 2020, and when he attempted to return to work he was fired.
Grounds claims the defendant also violated the West Virginia Human Rights Act and ERISA. The defendant also breached its contract with the plaintiff.
Grounds is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Laura Davidson of Mountain State Justice in Morgantown; and Sam Petsonk of Petsonk PLLC in Beckley.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:22-cv-00065