CHARLESTON — A lawsuit initially filed in Kanawha Circuit Court and removed to federal court was partially remanded back to state court.
Senior U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver Jr. found there was no reason to abstain from exercising supplemental jurisdiction in the case.
"The causes of action in Counts I and III are neither novel nor complex and they no not substantially predominate over Count II," he wrote. "Accordingly, the court will exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff's first and third causes of action because they are so closely related to his FMLA claim that 'they form part of the same case or controversy.'"
For this reason, Copenhaver writes, the court granted in part and denied in part the motion to remand filed by the plaintiff.
Count IV of the complaint is remanded, while the first three counts will remain in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Paul Alderman III was employed by ADT as an associate service technician and during his employment, he was involved in a car accident that was not his fault.
Alderman claims the accident caused issues with his neck, back, and one of his legs and he took time off work for his injuries and sought medical treatment.
The plaintiff filed a workers' compensation claim and was awarded benefits. He later suffered additional physical impairments while working and requested leave pursuant to the Family Medical Leave Act and was off work from Sept. 30, 2021, until Jan. 3, 2022.
The plaintiff's employment was then terminated on March 1, 2022, according to the suit.
He claims when making the decision to terminate his employment, the defendant was motivated by the plaintiff's disabilities, requests for FMLA requests and his attempts to receive workers' compensation benefits.
Alderman claims the defendant's actions were discriminatory, violated FMLA and were retaliatory.
Alderman is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Paul L. Frampton Jr. of Atkinson & Polak in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 22-C-797 (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:22-cv-00512)