CHARLESTON – A former employee of Buzz Food Service says he was a victim of retaliation and wrongful termination.
William “Jason” Jean filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Buzz Products Inc., Appalachian Abattoir LLC, Angela Gould and Dickenson Gould III.
According to the complaint, Jean began working for the defendants in 2010 and quickly was promoted to sales manager. In 2018, he says he notified the defendants he planned to take a job with another company. But he says he was given a promotion to vice president and a substantial pay raise, noting Dickenson Gould told him he was worth “every penny of $120,000/year.”
In mid-2020, Jean says the company laid off many employees who reported to him, causing him significantly more work. He also says the company applied for payroll relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he says the company was not using that money correctly. He also told the Goulds the extra work was causing him anxiety. He also told them his minor children had immune deficiencies and could not get COVID.
After that, Jean says he was the victim of retaliation.
“Defendant allowed employees to bully plaintiff, make jokes about his mental health issues and treat plaintiff differently that he suffered from multiple mental health concerns,” the complaint states. “The plaintiff’s mental health issues affected his day-to-day life and ability to perform his job, the same qualified as a disability.”
Jean says his pay was cut 30 percent, and he never received his original pay again unlike other employees who did. He says the defendants told him he had been “overpaid.”
The defendants promised to keep his mental health issues “quiet,” according to the complaint, and made Jean go to counseling. He says he also signed a contract that he would not be docked pay, would not lose his position and could come back in 30 days after counseling. He says he also was told he’d receive $5,000 for counseling.
Jean also says Dickenson Gould constantly contacted him with accusations he was using drugs, was an alcoholic and making other attacks to cause stress. He also says the defendants took his cell phone and computer and was forced to provide his Apple ID and password so he could not access any contacts or retrieve messages.
“Defendant never intended for plaintiff to come back to work for defendant once plaintiff was forced to leave for his 30-day treatment for disabilities related to his mental health,” the complaint states. “While plaintiff was off on the 30-day period of leave for said disability plaintiff was harassed by defendant and terminated.”
Jean accuses the defendants of disability discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act, failure to accommodate, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and violating the state Wage Payment and Collection Act.
He seeks compensatory damages, front pay, back pay, pre- and post-judgment interests, punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
Jean is being represented by D. Adrian Hoosier II of Hoosier Law Firm in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 24-C-28