CHARLESTON – A Black man says he was a victim of racial discrimination and invasion of privacy by Kroger.
Shon Booker filed his complaint March 14 against Kroger Limited Partnership I and Joel Weese, who is a Kroger store manager.
According to the complaint, Booker started working as a clerk at its Mullins Road gas station located along Corridor G/U.S. 119 in Charleston on September 13, 2022.
On October 4, 2022, Booker says Weese approached him while he was working outside at the station where customers are served.
“In this public area, defendant Weese notified plaintiff that he was being terminated from his employment with defendant Kroger because of the discovery of private medical information procured in connection with plaintiff’s job application made to another prospective employer,” the complaint states. “Defendant Weese caused plaintiff great humiliation and embarrassment by verbally notifying him of his termination and of these alleged reasons in this public area.”
The complaint does not say what the private medical information was or how the defendants obtained the information.
He says Weese then told another clerk she would have to close the story early because Booker had been fired.
Booker accuses the defendants of racial discrimination, disparate treatment and invasion of privacy.
He says his termination was handled in a manner not customarily used when firing white employees in a discrete and private meeting away from the public and co-workers. He says that was a violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
Booker also says the defendants’ reliance on private medical information unlawfully procured from another entity as a ground for termination is a clear invasion of his privacy rights.
He says he has suffered and will suffer economic damages such as lost wages and benefits. He says he also has suffered emotional damages such as humiliation, mental pain and suffering, emotional distress and embarrassment.
Booker seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief. He is being represented by Kurt E. Entsminger and Michael P. Addair of Addair Entsminger in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-224