CHARLESTON – A Quincy woman says she was the victim of sexual harassment by her 7-Eleven manager.
Donna Abshire filed her complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against 7-Eleven Inc. and Evan Keel.
According to the complaint, Abshire began working at a 7-Eleven store in Charleston as assistant manager in September 2019. In May 2022, Keel became the store manager and her supervisor.
She says Keel soon began making sexually explicit comments to Abshire and other employees as well as to customers and about customers. She says other employees and customers complained to her about Keel’s actions.
Abshire says she asked Keel to not make sexually inappropriate comments, and she reported his actions to supervisors. She says Keel retaliated against her by cutting her hours or making her work two shifts in one day.
She says she worked in that hostile environment for seven months and suffered negative health outcomes and was generally upset by her work conditions. She gave her two weeks’ notice, and her last day of work was November 27, 2022.
She says Keel received a certified letter November 23, 2022, from a law firm representing a former employee regarding sexual harassment and hostile work environment. The letter requested evidence be preserved.
Abshire says Keel showed her the letter, and he began destroying evidence after he received it.
She accuses the defendants of sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, violations of public policy, constructive discharge and willful and wanton conduct. She seeks joint and several compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
Last week, 7-Eleven filed a motion seeking to have the emotional distress and public policy counts dismissed. It also filed a separate answer denying the allegations and seeking to have the entire case dismissed with prejudice.
Abshire is being represented by J.B. Akers of Akers Law Offices in Charleston. 7-Eleven is being represented by Eric W. Iskra and Sarah E. Kowalkowski of Spilman Thomas & Battle in Charleston.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-567