Suit against WVSURDC set for April

After being bounced between state and federal courts, a lawsuit filed by a former employee of the research division of West Virginia State University is slated for trial in the spring.

On June 11, a scheduling conference was held in Kanawha Circuit Court in the case of Katara Sowell v. West Virginia State University Research and Development Corporation. In November, Sowell brought suit against the Corporation alleging both its human resources director, Shelvy Campbell, and A. Joseph Kusimo, director of the university's NASA program, created a hostile work environment during her six months there.

Sowell's suit, court records show, also alleges the Corporation retaliated against her after she addressed her concerns to higher ups including university President Hazo W. Carter Jr., who is also president of the Corporation's board of directors. She claims that shortly thereafter her job was cut because of "a lack of funding."

On March 24, the case was transferred to U. S. District Court because of federal wage and hour issues Sowell raised. However, her attorney, Scott Kaminski, asked the case be remanded back to state court because the "Plaintiff's perceived pursuit of a federal claim was the sole basis for federal jurisdiction in this matter."

Court records show Judge Joseph Goodwin granted Kaminski's motion on May 23.

In her scheduling order, Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker set Jan. 9, 2009 for the completion of discovery. Should the parties fail to mediate the dispute before the pretrial conference on April 9, 2009, then trial will begin 11 days later at 9 a.m

For more on this story, go to The West Virginia Record

Photos: East Hall (top left), located on the lower end of campus, is the home of State's Research and Development Corporation. Katara Sowell, a former RDC employee, filed a lawsuit against not only the RDC, but also its human resources director Shelvy Campbell and Joseph Kusimo (pictured above), who works for WVSU's NASA program, for creating a hostile work environment during her employment there. The case is slated for trial in April 2009.