CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County circuit judge denied a motion Tuesday to remove the City of Charleston from a civil lawsuit filed by a former police officer.
City attorney Gabe Wohl told Judge Jennifer Bailey the city shouldn’t be part of the lawsuit filed by Chelsea McCoy because it was former Charleston Police Chief Tyke Hunt and Sgt. Richie Basford who dismissed her.
“The city’s response is that she (McCoy) didn’t tie the facts of her wrongful discharge claim to any facts that the city took adverse employment action against her,” Wohl said. “She states that she was constructively discharged by the two individual defendants.”
The lawsuit claims Hunt changed McCoy’s polygraph test for police officer candidates after the two had sex in the examination room in 2018. The lawsuit also claims the two had sex again in late 2022 when Hunt was police chief. The lawsuit claims McCoy was subject to “continuous sexual harassment” and was asked to resign in early 2021. She did so in March 2022.
The city said it shouldn’t be held responsible for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, punitive damages and wrongful termination that McCoy claims.
McCoy’s attorney, Howard Persinger, said the city shares part of the responsibility for what happened to his client.
“The polygraph was manipulated and was part of her terms of becoming employed and then the harassment occurred in the city building, that’s where the sexual encounters took place. It was absolutely part of the employment,” Persinger said.
Bailey denied the motion to dismiss. She said it’s a high bar for the city to meet.
The two sides also argued for several minutes during Tuesday’s hearing over various discovery issues. Bailey told them they need to work things out. She told them to hire a discovery commissioner to help them do it.