PARKERSBURG — A woman is suing the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission for alleged harassment and policy violations during her employment.
Heather Enoch filed her complaint April 5 in Wood Circuit Court against the WVSSAC, Bernie Dolan, Renee Reed on behalf of the estate of Gregory Reed, Wayne Ryan and Cindy Daniel. Dolan, who currently is the executive director of the WVSSAC, announced his pending retirement earlier this week.
According to the complaint, Enoch was hired by WVSSAC and she is eligible for early retirement in July 2024, having spent her entire adult life employed by the defendant, according to a complaint filed April 5 in Wood Circuit Court.
Dolan
| Courtesy photo
Enoch claims she has maintained a positive work record and history during her employment and continues to work despite an increasingly toxic environment.
The plaintiff has been called a racist and a thief by the defendants.
"Plaintiff Heather Enoch has been subjected to a hostile work environment at the hands of defendant Dolan and his Assistant Executive Directors, defendants Reed, Ryan, and Daniel, and such hostile work environment continues to date with the exception that defendant Reed died on or about January 11, 2023," the complaint states.
Enoch claims she reported and complained repetitively, with numerous examples and with specifics, to Dolan, and all to no avail, of various frequent, severe, and pervasive misconduct; harassment; an abusive, disintegrating, and hostile work environment; undermining of her work and of her personally; boorish and offensive remarks and conduct towards her; and mistreatment on an ongoing basis.
"Enoch has been handed negative job changes and negative changes in pay and benefits, and plaintiff has had to attempt to handle contacts with and comments by perpetrators including in front of others," the complaint states.
The plaintiff has been caused not to report further or even more repetitively and has been intimidated from reporting wrongful workplace conduct due to the severely hostile environment, the lack of responses, the nature of the responses/non-responses to reporting; nonetheless, at times she did undertake efforts, indeed repetitive efforts to report, all while handling and/or trying to handle unreasonable and inappropriate conduct, managing and dealing with derogatory remarks and unlawful conduct and false accusations on an ongoing basis at and related to her work site and employment, according to the suit.
Enoch claims she is entitled to a workplace free of harassment and one without toxicity and hostility.
Enoch claims the defendants violated the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
Enoch is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is represented by Patrick S. Casey, Sandra M. Chapman and Ryan P. Orth of Casey & Chapman in Wheeling.
Wood Circuit Court case number: 23-C-101