In a recent lawsuit that saw the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in a 3-2 split, a former cable technician’s wrongful termination suit was dismissed due to a failure to state a claim. The majority reasoned that his disclosure of a scheme by his colleagues to purposely disrupt communication services did not constitute a substantial public policy adequate to support a wrongful discharge following his termination from at-will employment.
This November 9 opinion affirms a circuit court’s earlier dismissal of the claim filed by Todd Jarrell, a former employee of Frontier West Virginia. In Jarrell’s view, his dismissal amounted to wrongful termination.
Justice C. Haley Bunn, who authored the majority opinion, found Jarrell’s argument unconvincing, prompting the decision in favor of dismissing the case. On the other side of the divide, Justice John A. Hutchison and William R. Wooton penned a dissenting opinion. They argued that Jarrell’s allegations bore striking resemblances to an internal whistleblower claim and, as such, should have advanced to the discovery phase for further examination and development.
For those interested in reading more about this case, the original reporting can be found here.