CHARLESTON — A man is suing Airgas USA alleging he was wrongfully terminated from his employment.
Airgas Dry Ice, Airgas National Carbonation, Greg Kreaps and Mitchell Davis were also named as defendants in the suit.
Darrell Welch was 47 years old and worked for the defendants at their Charleston location, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Welch claims he began working for the defendant in 2005. In December 2021, he says he was moved to the small medicals department.
The plaintiff was the only worker who was responsible for filling both liquids and high-pressure gas, which was essentially two full-time jobs, according to the suit.
Welch claims Kreaps and Davis were managerial employees and they wanted a younger crew, even stating it to him and discussed replacing older workers with younger workers.
Davis also stated that older workers were not allowed to work overtime because they made too much money, according to the suit.
Welch claims younger workers were also offered financial incentives to learn different jobs at the plant, but older workers were not given the same opportunities.
Welch claims he suffered a heart attack on Feb. 16 and he was told to take off work four to six weeks to recover, but he feared for his job and returned two days later. His employment was then terminated in May 2023.
Welch is seeking compensatory damages. He is represented by Laura Davidson of Mountain State Justice in Morgantown.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 23-C-890