West Virginia

Plaintiff brought a hostile work environment claim, among others.  She witnessed her supervisor and another employee in a compromising position.  Her supervisor threatened her with the loss of employment and her license if she shared what she had witnessed.  She promised to remain silent and shortly thereafter went on vacation.  When she returned, her supervisor fired her, stating that he did not like the way she dressed or styled her hair.  Plaintiff was an at-will employee at the time of termination.  Plaintiff alleged that she “was subjected to improper and

Defendant shot and killed husband after a night of “domestic terror.”  Defendant claimed she acted in self-defense; however, the state argued that she unreasonably used deadly force and that she could have retreated from the danger.  The court held that the defendant was entitled to a self-defense jury instruction and that the evidence supported her claim of self-defense.  To claim self defense, the court explained, the defendant’s belief that she was at “imminent risk of bodily injury or death” must be “subjectively reasonable,” i.e., the defendant believed that his or her a

Appellant argued that the court wrongly allowed the admission of victim’s statements regarding alleged battery by the defendant after defendant was convicted of domestic battery.  The victim made statements to others and did not appear in court or testify at trial; therefore, appellant had no opportunity to cross-examine the victim.  The court held that the victim’s statements were “improperly admitted in violation of the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the . . .

The Court reversed the lower court and remanded to family court for entry of a protective order on behalf of petitioner.  Petitioner and defendant had been in a twelve year relationship that ended.  A year later, defendant made efforts to renew the relationship and began harassing petitioner with numerous phone calls, voice mail messages to her home and work phone and by making unannounced appearances at her workplace and home.  Defendant arrived at her home and didn’t leave the premises for approximately two hours.  During that time, he banged a three foot metal bar aga