CHARLESTON – A former social media manager for the West Virginia Lottery says he was harassed and bullied after he requested to work from home because of a medical issue.
James D. Shock filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against the West Virginia Lottery Commission, Randy Burnside, Debbie Hughes, Danielle Snidow and John Myers.
According to the complaint, Shock was hired in February 2018. He says analytics “undeniably prove his exceptional ability to grow a social media audience.”
Shock says his last social media post appeared on Facebook on March 15, 2021, two days before he was wrongfully terminated. He says he had submitted a request to be relocated from the hostile work environment at his work location.
He says he was permitted to work from home by previous supervisor Kayla Brown because of an immunological disorder. He says he sometimes has “flare ups” and had provided a physician’s note to Hughes, who was the Lottery’s human resources director.
Hughes told Shock she’d talk to Myers, who was Lottery Director, and get back to him. She never did, he claims.
Shock says he suffered constant bullying, a hostile work environment and adverse employment actions from his repeated requests for reasonable accommodations for his disability that previously had been approved.
He says he was given a Performance Development Plan initiated by Burnside and reinstated by Snidow when Snidow took over as Deputy Marketing Director after Burnside had been promoted to Deputy Lottery Director. But, Shock says the defendants “never provided any meaningful or measurable objectives for plaintiff to achieve.”
Shock says Burnside harassed him, including screaming profanities at him on at least one occasion. Shock says Burnside initiated disciplinary action against him, and he says he asked to have Burnside removed from the process because he didn’t think Burnside could be impartial or fair. That, Shock says, led to another verbal altercation with Burnside.
On February 23, 2021, Shock says he was suspended without pay for five days because of insubordination. He says his access to all Lottery social media accounts and his work phone were deactivated.
On March 13, 2021, Shock says he went to Lottery headquarters to retrieve files to work from home, but he says he no longer was permitted to enter the parking garage or building with his access badge. A security guard escorted him to his office.
Four days later, Shock says he was fired after a meeting with Burnside and Hughes. He says Snidow later entered his office and disposed of personal belongings, including Christmas presents from coworkers still in gift bags and the only original newspaper clippings he had about the murder of his twin brother.
Shock accuses the defendants of eight counts of violating the West Virginia Human Rights Act. Those include disability discrimination resulting in termination, reprisal resulting in termination, retaliation resulting in termination, failure to accommodate disability, reprisal resulting in termination after requesting accommodations for disability, retaliation resulting in termination after requesting accommodations for disability, reprisal resulting in termination after being subjected to an improvement plan impossible to satisfy because of his disability and disability discrimination of being forced to come to work during the COVID pandemic.
He also accuses the defendants of 13 counts of negligence, two counts of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, one count of civil conspiracy and four counts of reprisal and retaliation in violation of public policy.
Shock seeks compensatory damages for lost wages, lost benefits, medical bills, loss of enjoyment of life, mental and emotional distress, punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
He is being represented by D. Adrian Hoosier of Hoosier Law Firm in Charleston. The defendants haven’t filed an answer, but they are being represented by Jan L. Fox and Mark C. Dean of Steptoe & Johnson in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-1068
