An East Oak Grove Cemetery employee was retaliated against after reporting anti-Semitic harassment by co-workers. He recently quit his job when that harassment got worse after The Dominion Post published an article about the situation, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday.
The lawsuit, filed in Monongalia County Circuit Court by plaintiff Joshua Kyle, names Oak Grove Cemetery Association Inc., Fred Drummond and James Overfield as defendants.
The suit accuses them of religious harassment, reprisal for reporting religious harassment and common law wrongful termination. It seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgement interest, attorney’s fees and other relief deemed fair by the jury or court.
Because of the conduct of the defendants, Kyle has lost and will continue to lose wages, has suffered great aggravation, inconvenience, embarrassment, humiliation, indignity, insult, physical and emotional distress and the loss of the ordinary pleasures of everyday life, the suit said.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Kyle’s attorney, Jared Moore said.
Kyle is Jewish, a practicing member of the faith, and his grandmother survived the Holocaust in Berlin, Germany, according to the suit. As a sign of his faith Kyle has a clearly visible Star of David tattoo on his lower neck, directly above his shirt collar.
Kyle was hired in May as a general laborer and worked with Drummond and Overfield, both of whom shouted “white power” and performed the Nazi salute towards him, the suit said.
Kyle reported their actions to Karl Yagle, president of Oak Grove Cemetery, who did not take investigative, disciplinary, remedial, corrective, or preventative measures in response to Kyle’s complaint, according to the suit.
Yagle did not respond to a message seeking comment on the lawsuit in time for this report.
Instead, Kyle was demoted to less reputable and desirable job duties, according to the suit. His job as an undertaker was given to Overfield.
On Sept. 12, The Dominion Post published an article reporting on the religious harassment Kyle experienced. In the article, Yagle stated he could not take action unless someone other than Kyle reported such conduct — and no one else had.
However, it’s believed someone did witness Drummond or Overfield make a Nazi salute and reported it to the office, the suit said.
After the article ran, Overfield stared at Kyle and made a throat slitting motion with his thumb while riding a mower past Kyle, causing him to fear for his safety, the suit said. The harassment continued when Drummond slowly drove by Kyle’s house after work on Sept. 18 while staring at Kyle and his family.
Kyle reported Drummond’s threatening conduct to Yagle, who again failed to take any action, the suit said.
On Oct. 4, Kyle was forced to quit his job at the cemetery because of the hostile working conditions, according to the suit.
