CHARLESTON – A former employee of the West Virginia Association of Realtors says her supervisor engaged in “an extreme, pervasive and repeated pattern of sexual harassment and assault” against her that also led to her constructive dismissal.
The plaintiff, identified only as S.S., filed her complaint June 7 in Kanawha Circuit Court against the WVAR, the National Association of Realtors, Mark Mansour, Amy White, Nancy Williams, Tonia Carone, Angela Mayfield, Debra Tanner and Raymond Joseph. Joseph is CEO of the WVAR, and the other named defendants are members of the WVAR Executive Committee.
L. Dante diTrapano, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, declined to comment on the case. Joseph did not return a message seeking comment.
diTrapano
According to the complaint, Joseph has been the CEO of the WVAR since 2002. The complaint also claims Joseph “was known within the Realtor community” for making sexually charged statements even before he became the CEO. It also says he allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted an employee of a real estate office in 2000, and it says he has continued that pattern of behavior while CEO.
The complaint says Joseph would make sexual comments, tell sexual jokes and tell women at the WVAR office and at the Kanawha Valley Board of Realtors (located across the hall) to show him their breasts. One KVBOR employee avoid situations where she would be alone with Joseph, according to the complaint which also says at least two others resigned from their jobs because of Joseph’s actions.
The complaint says the WVAR and its executive committee have known Joseph uses his role as CEO to hire women he finds attractive and that several of them endured sexual assault and harassment from him for nearly two decades.
But, “the Executive Committee of WVAR has actively prevented investigations into allegations of sexual harassment made by former employees and others in the Realtor community against defendant Joseph,” the complaint states. “The WVAR Executive Committee ignored and shunned members of WVAR and members of the WVAR Board of Directors who reported allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct by defendant Joseph. …
“Victims of defendant Joseph knew that their careers and reputations would be ruined if they reported defendant Joseph’s behavior.”
In 2019, another WVAR employee resigned. When WVAR President Jeff Maddox asked the woman about it, she said Joseph had sexually harassed her throughout her employment there. But the complaint says the WVAR took no action to investigate Joseph.
When that employee left the WVAR, the plaintiff says she became the target of Joseph’s sexual harassment and assaults.
Until she quit in March 2022, the plaintiff says Joseph would follow her into the bathroom, grab her breasts and expose his penis to her.
“Plaintiff would request that other people in the office wait for her before they left the office each day because she feared defendant Joseph’s sexual assaults when they were in the office alone,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff requested that other WVAR Board members escort her to her hotel room when she traveled for WVAR business as defendant Joseph would tell her that he expected her engage in sexual intercourse with him when they traveled for work.
“Defendant Joseph would put his hand on plaintiff’s legs when they would travel in the same vehicle.”
She says Joseph often asked her to perform oral sex on him, to “climb under his desk” and demanded sex because she was able to travel as part of her job.
The plaintiff says she reported Joseph’s actions to Mansour, the current WVAR Treasurer who also has served on NAR committees.
“Mansour simply responded that he only knew that Joseph was worried about plaintiff,” the complaint states, adding that she also reported Joseph’s actions to Mayfield, WVAR vice president. Mayfield didn’t respond to the plaintiff, according to the complaint.
The plaintiff says she also reported the incidents to her physician and counselor. Because of the severe anxiety and stress the situation was causing, her doctor told her she should quit her job and provided a letter to submit to the unemployment office. She also contacted the state Human Rights Commission earlier this year, but she was told she needed physical evidence to support her claims.
When she finally quit in March, the plaintiff claims Joseph made public comments about her that were defamatory. She says Joseph has said she was using drugs and had stopped attending sobriety meetings.
She calls those comments “as absurd as they are untrue,” and are calculated by Joseph to “diminish the plaintiff’s esteem in the view of the West Virginia Realtor community or they represented a misguided effort to excuse his own atrocious conduct as an employer.”
The plaintiff claims the WVAR Executive Committee has told WVAR members to not report allegations made against Joseph and not to request an investigation into the allegations made b the plaintiff. Also, she says the WVAR Executive Committee also is trying to intimidate members to protect Joseph.
The plaintiff accuses Joseph and the WVAR of sexual harassment and sexual assault; all defendants of a hostile work environment, constructive termination, fraudulent concealment and intentional infliction of emotional distress; the WVAR of negligent conduct, negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent supervision and violating the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act; Joseph of defamation per se; the WVAR, Mansour, White, Williams, Carone, Mayfield and Tanner of negligence, malfeasance, nonfeasance, carelessness and/or recklessness; the WVAR and NAR of vicarious liability; the NAR of negligent conduct; and Joseph, WVAR, Mansour, White, Williams, Carone, Mayfield and Tanner of civil conspiracy.
She says she has suffered personal injury and damages including permanent psychological injuries, medical and psychological bills, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, indignity, shame, economic losses, diminished earnings capacity and future lost wages.
The plaintiff seeks joint and several compensatory damages for her losses and injuries, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
She is being represented by diTrapano, Amanda Davis and Christopher Hedges of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-462