CHARLESTON — A Charleston man who worked for Acadia Healthcare Company is suing alleging his employment was wrongfully terminated.
Acadia is doing business as Comprehensive Treatment Center.
Dr. Mark Elliot McDaniel and Jared Muse were also named as defendants in the suit.
Christopher Carter was employed by the defendants as a physician's assistant beginning on Sept. 28, 2020, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Carter claims he was to be paid $104,000 per year and his employment contract stated that it would be automatically renewed unless and until one party or the other took action to terminate it upon proper written notice.
Soon after starting his employment, the plaintiff was directed to fill out the portion of his application for licensure that required information about the plaintiff and submit it to CCTC Clinical Director Jim Patton so that Patton could add information for McDaniel and then submit it to the West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine for approval, according to the suit.
Carter claims he filled out his portion and submitted it to Patton and inquired several times as to whether or not the application had been fully completed and submitted and Patton continually assured him that he was working on it.
"Plaintiff expressed his concern many times to Mr. Patton that Defendant Acadia was billing insurers and patients for medical services provided by Plaintiff without the West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine having approved the application and that doing so would be illegal and fraudulent," the complaint states.
Carter claims McDaniel also was verbally abusive toward him and harassed him and threatened him on many occasions. He claims McDaniel's conduct and statements created a hostile, toxic work environment.
The plaintiff reported McDaniel's abusive behavior in great detail but, to his knowledge, no one did anything to stop McDaniel from continuing the harassment and abuse.
Muse took over for Patton in April 2021 when Patton was separated from the company and it was discovered that Patton had never completed the remaining portion of the application for licensure to practice for Carter.
On May 27, 2021, Carter made a formal complaint regarding McDaniel's abusive behavior, according to the suit.
Carter claims the following day he was informed by Muse he was being placed on suspension without pay, even though his employment contract does not contain a provision permitting such.
On June 14, 2021, Muse terminated Carter's employment because he did not have a medical license from the West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine to practice at CCTC, despite Carter filling out the application with his information and providing it to Patton to finish filling out and submitting and despite that when Muse took over, Carter had asked him to do so as well, according to the suit.
Carter is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by David J. Mincer of Bailey & Wyant in Charleston.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 23-C-506