WINFIELD – A Kanawha County veteran says she was wrongfully terminated by Nippon Thermostat while she suffered complications from a service-related injury.
Jennifer J. Yarborough filed her complaint in Putnam Circuit Court against Nippon Thermostat America Corporation and supervisor Haruka Kataoka.
According to the complaint, Yarborough worked for Nippon as a production worker at its Fraziers Bottom factory from November 2018 until she was fired February 19, 2020. She says she performed her duties in a satisfactory manner.
Before she worked at Nippon, Yarborough served in the United States Army. That’s when she initially injured her left ankle. She also was diagnosed with PTSD related to her service.
When she began working at Nippon, she says she sometimes experienced issues with her left ankle injury. The pain was so bad that it sometimes affected her ability to work, she says.
On July 10, 2019, Yarborough’s doctor ordered her to temporarily stop working because of her ankle issues. During her time off, Yarborough says she had definite return-to-work dates that sometimes were extended based on medical treatment. She says she kept Nippon updated on her status.
“Each time that plaintiff would turn in a doctor’s excuse stating that she needed to be off work, defendant Kataoka would infer that plaintiff’s job may be in jeopardy and would leave plaintiff in limbo for several days while defendants made a decision as to whether plaintiff could keep her job,” the complaint states. “Within a month of plaintiff being taken off work due to the ankle injury she suffered in the military, defendants requested that plaintiff resign her employment.
“Plaintiff was told that if she resigned she could re-apply to work at Nippon once she was healed.”
Yarborough says the defendants made numerous requests for her to resign while she was unable to work.
On October 7, 2019, Yarborough’s doctor provided documentation that she was scheduled for foot surgery on November 15, 2019, and would be unable to work until January 10, 2020.
On December 30, 2019, her doctor released her to return to work on January 13, 2020, and she was limited to eight hours of work each day until February 11, 2020.
When she returned to work, Yarborough worked until January 21, 2020, when she left work to go to the emergency room because of significant pain caused by complications from the surgery. She was ordered off work until January 28, 2020.
She was released to work again but was told to return to light duty wearing a walking boot and not putting weight on her ankle for more than 20 minutes per hour. She was to be reevaluated on February 11, 2020. But she says Nippon refused to accommodate her restrictions and placed her on unpaid leave until February 11.
On February 12, 2020, Yarborough provided Nippon with documentation that she couldn’t return to work until after an MRI and that her new return date was May 1, 2020. On February 19, 2020, Kataoka fired Yarborough. She was released to return to work without restrictions nine days later.
She accuses the defendants of disability discrimination and failure to accommodate, both violations of the West Virginia Human Rights Act, as well as reprisal. She also accuses Kataoka of aiding and abetting.
Yarborough says she has suffered economic damages, including lost wages and benefits. She says she also has endured annoyance, inconvenience, embarrassment, humiliation, loss of dignity and emotional distress.
She seeks compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Yarborough is being represented by Michael P. Addair of Addair Law Office in Hurricane.
Putnam Circuit Court case number 22-C-20