WHEELING — West Liberty University wants a lawsuit alleging discrimination to be dismissed from federal court.
The university alleges that it acted reasonably and in good faith under the circumstances and should be entitled to immunity from liability in the case.
"In taking the actions complained of in Plaintiff's Complaint, Defendant did not violate any established laws, rules or regulations of the State of West Virginia or the United States of America of which they knew of or should have known," the answer states.
The university admits that the plaintiff applied for two positions in December 2020 and July 2021 and that while she met the minimum requirements for the positions, she was interviewed for the positions.
The university denies that it discriminated against the plaintiff based on her age.
The university contends that the plaintiff's complaint should be dismissed. It is represented by David L. Wyant and Benjamin P. Visnic of Bailey & Wyant in Wheeling.
Dawn Swiger filed the lawsuit against the university, former President Stephen Greiner, Provost Brian Crawford and Chief Human Resource Officer Diana Harto in November, claiming when she left her previous position at the university, she was discriminated against when applying for other positions.
Swiger was employed by the university as an administrative assistant from May 2007 until June 2020, when her employment was terminated.
She claims sometime in 2017, approximately 100 employees' classification changed from classified to unclassified and in August 2018, she and another staff member filed a grievance with the Public Employees Grievance Board.
After filing the grievance, she and the other staff member were told "the grievance is over" and were told not to speak to each other. The grievance was then formally denied.
On Nov. 28, 2018, Swiger went to the university's Board of Governors meeting and made a statement regarding her concerns.
In April 2019, Swiger was elected to the Advisory Council of Classified Employees as a representative for the university and on June 3, 2020, she scheduled a meeting for the Staff Advisory Council to meet in advance of the Board of Governors meeting scheduled for that evening.
During the meeting, Greiner "exhibited open hostility" to the issues being raised and the next day, the plaintiff was terminated from her employment. She later applied for several positions at the university for which she was qualified, but was not interviewed for them.
Swiger claims she was discriminated against.
Swiger is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is represented by Patrick S. Cassidy of Cassidy Cogan Shapell & Voegelin in Wheeling.
U.S District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 5:21-cv-00188