CHARLESTON — A former professor at West Virginia State University is suing the institution claiming it failed to pay his wages for his last month of employment.
Gurupdesh Pandher was previously hired as the dean of WVSU's College of Business and Social Sciences and worked in that position until May 2021, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Pandher claims on May 26, 2021, he stepped down from his position as dean and assumed the position of a tenured professor.
As part of his employment contract, if he was to revert to a professor job instead of the dean, he would receive 75% of his salary in that position, according to the suit.
Pandher claims he served in that position until June 29, 2021, until he resigned. He claims the defendant failed to pay his salary from June 5, 2021, to June 29, 2021.
"To date, Defendant has not paid Plaintiff wages for this period, while he was still employed by Defendant as a tenured professor," the complaint states. "By failing to pay Plaintiff for this period of employment, Defendant violated the proscriptions of the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act."
The defendant accepted the plaintiff's resignation as dean, according to the suit, and accepted that he would be receiving the 75% of his previous wage.
Pandher claims he is owed $7,912.08 for the missed wages and is entitled to recover unpaid wages plus double that amount as a civil penalty for a total of $23,736.24 under the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act.
Pandher is seeking compensatory damages in the amount of $23,736.24. He is represented by Kirk Auvil and Walt Auvil of The Employment Law Center in Parkersburg.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 22-C-370