ELKINS — A jury did not agree with a former employee’s claim that H.W. Daniels American Legion Post 29 discriminated against her during a civil trial in Randolph County Circuit Court.

According to the Randolph County Circuit Court, at the end of a civil trial on March 14, the jury “did not find, by preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant (American Legion Post 29 and Michael Cardinal) did discriminate against the plaintiff (Karen Vance).” The trial began on March 13.

Post 29 and Cardinal were represented by Harry A. Smith, III. Vance was represented by Erika Klie Kolenich.

In March 2023, Vance, who was a bartender at Post 29 from April 2021 to July 2022, filed a civil lawsuit against Post 29 and Cardinal, listed in the suit as “Bar Manager,” alleging hostile work environment/sexual harassment, retaliation for reporting sexual harassment, gender discrimination and wrongful termination in violation of public policy.

In the suit, several incidents spanning from March 2022 to July 2022 are referenced as evidence of the four counts, involving “in reporting food safety concerns, sexual harassment and physical violence.”

The “physical violence” listed in the suit referred to a fight that allegedly broke out at the bar in July 2022 involving another Post 29 employee, that caused Vance to close the bar early and file a report.

The sexual harassment, according to the lawsuit, occurred in May 2022 when an off-duty Post 29 employee allegedly exposed himself to Vance while drunk. 

According to the suit, after Vance reported the alleged sexual harassment to Post 29, she was informed that she “should not have written a report with the names of the individuals involved in the incident unless she had those individuals’ permission.”

In June 2022, according to the lawsuit, Vance attended a Post 29 Board meeting where she recounted the alleged sexual harassment.

“Upon information and belief, the Board informed Plaintiff Vance that (the accused employee) had wanted his job back and that upon reviewing video footage, it was too ‘grainy’ to tell what had happened,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff Vance was not shown this video footage. Plaintiff Vance was told she would be notified of their decision.”

However, according to the suit, three days after the board meeting, Vance arrived to work her scheduled shift and find the accused employee was back working and on the schedule to work the bar.

Vance was fired from Post 29 “through Defendant Cardinal” during a staff meeting in July 2022, the suit claims.

The complaint alleges that Vance, as a result of the incidents and firing, suffered injuries, damages and losses such as “back pay, front pay, emotional distress, anxiety, fear, embarrassment, humiliation, financial hardship and attorney fees.”

The criminal complaint stated that Vance demanded judgement in a trial by jury on “all issues so triable” against Post 29 and Cardinal “in the amount in excess of the minimum jurisdictional limits of compensatory damages, plus interest and costs and such further relief as a Court or jury may find just.”