CHARLESTON — A man is suing the West Virginia Department of Transportation claiming he experienced discrimination and retaliation from the agency.
Eric Powers began his employment with the WVDOT in 2008 and was a road maintenance equipment operator, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Powers claims in November 2017, he was diagnosed with cancer and needed workplace accommodations.
He claims on Jan. 30, 2019, he had a phone call with the human resources director who informed him there was no light duty work and he would have to wait until his cancer treatment port was removed to return to work.
On March 8, 2019, Powers was released to return to work, but the defendant did not approve his return to work until May 6, 2019, according to the suit.
Powers claims the defendant acknowledged that it had failed to accommodate him when it failed to timely bring him back to work following his medical leave.
When the plaintiff returned to work, he began to experience discriminatory and retaliatory treatment, according to the suit.
Powers claims he filed two grievances with the West Virginia Public Employees Grievance Board and he attempted to resolve his claims until it became clear the defendant did not plan to stop the continued discrimination and retaliation.
"At this point ... plaintiff removed his claim from the WVHRC and requested a right to sue letter to initiate a Circuit Court proceeding against Defendant," the complaint states.
Powers claims he was unlawfully retaliated against, which violated the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
Powers is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Anthony Brunicardi, Walt Auvil and Kirk Auvil of the Employment Law Center in Parkersburg.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 22-C-301