Justia West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court reversed in part the order of the circuit court dismissing Petitioner's claim against Respondent for defamation, holding that Petitioner's allegation that Respondent made the supposed defamatory statement maliciously precluded dismissal of Petitioner's claim under W. Va. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).Petitioner, a patrolman with the Town of Belle's Police Department, brought this complaint alleging that Respondent had made a defamatory statement against him, knew the statement was false, and made the statement intending to harm Petitioner's reputation. The circuit court dismissed the defamation claim on grounds of qualified privilege. The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the order dismissing the defamation claim against Respondent, individually, holding that it was error to find that Respondent acted in good faith, despite Petitioner's clear allegation to the contrary, and so to dismiss Petitioner's defamation claim against Respondent. View "Haught v. Fletcher" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the circuit court finding that the after-acquired title doctrine cured any irregularity in the assignment of the deed of trust on the subject property in this case, holding that the case must be dismissed for lack of standing.Petitioner filed suit against NPML Mortgage Acquisitions, LLC after he received a foreclosure notice stating that his real property located in Granville was going to be sold. Petitioner brought this suit, alleging that NPML Mortgage did not have a valid assignment of the deed of trust. The circuit court granted summary judgment for NPML Mortgage. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) a litigant who is not a party to a mortgage assignment or a party intended to benefit from the assignment lacks standing to challenge the assignment; and (2) Petitioner did not have standing to challenge the validity of the assignment of the deed of trust to NPML Mortgage. View "Pavone v. NPML Mortgage Acquisitions, LLC" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court denying the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles' (DMV) appeal of a final order of the office of administrative hearings (OAH) after concluding that Respondent could not have his driver's license revoked for his refusal to submit to a designated secondary chemical test, holding that there was no error.The OAH and circuit court determined that because the arresting officer failed to provide defendant with a written copy of the implied consent statement Respondent could not have his driver's license revoked for his refusal to submit to a designated secondary chemical test. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the OAH and the circuit court were correct in their application of the law; and (2) W. Va. 17C-5-7(a) requires that a driver be given both an oral warning and a written statement advising her of the consequences of refusing to submit to the designated secondary chemical test. View "Frazier v. Slye" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court enforcing a settlement agreement between Petitioner and his insurer, Respondent Allstate Company, and denying Petitioner's request to amend his complaint or allow the filing of a new complaint, holding that there was no error.The settlement agreement at issue related to water damages occurring at Petitioner's real property. Petitioner failed to execute and return the agreement, after which Respondent filed a motion to enforce settlement. Petitioner then filed a motion to amend the complaint or, in the alternative, allow the filing of a new complaint. The circuit court granted Respondent's motion to enforce the settlement and denied Petitioner's motion to amend. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err as to any of its challenged rulings. View "Donahue v. Mammoth Restoration & Cleaning" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction for knowingly providing false or misleading information to a member of the City of Martinsburg Police Department, holding that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction.Defendant's conviction arose from an incident during which Detective Jonathan Smith, who was not wearing a uniform, went to Defendant's home to investigate information regarding a potential fraudulent credit card charge associated with Defendant's address. Detective Smith, who did not initially identify himself as a law enforcement officer, asked Defendant personal questions, in response to which Defendant gave a false name. Later in the conversation, Detective Smith informed Defendant that he was a police officer, but Defendant did not subsequently notify Detective Smith of her real name. The circuit court convicted Defendant for violating section 509.05 of the City of Martinsburg Municipal Code. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the circuit court erred in finding that Defendant was required to notify an investigating law enforcement officer of her real name after learning that he was in actuality a law enforcement officer. View "City of Martinsburg v. Dunbar" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court that re-sentenced Defendant, for purposes of appeal, to an indeterminate term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years in connection for his conviction of one count of sexual abuse by a parent or person in a position of trust to a child, holding that there was no error.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by denying Defendant's motion to suppress his recorded confession and allowing Defendant's interview at the police department to be played for the jury; (2) the circuit court did not err by failing to give two jury instructions proffered by Defendant; and (3) Defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was not properly before this Court on direct appeal. View "State v. Campbell" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the circuit court preliminarily enjoining the West Virginia Paycheck Protection Act, passed by the Legislature in 2021, from taking effect, holding that the circuit court abused its discretion when it granted Respondents injunctive relief.Respondents - labor unions, employee associations, and individual members of such groups - sought to enjoin the enforcement of the Act, which prohibits state employers from continuing to deduct union dues and employee association membership fees from public employees' wages. The circuit court concluded that the law violated certain of Respondents' constitutional rights and that its enforcement would irreparably harm them. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the circuit court abused its discretion when it did not deny injunctive relief to Respondents. View "Justice v. W. Va. AFL-CIO" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted as moulded a writ of prohibition challenging the rulings of the circuit court denying West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc.'s (WVUH) petition for declaratory judgment and WVUH's motion to dismiss Respondents' amended complaint, holding that the circuit court committed clear legal error.Respondents filed a complaint alleging corporate negligence and other claims against WVUH. WVUH filed a combined answer and petition for declaratory judgment asking the circuit court to declare that the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act, W. Va. Code 55-7B-1 to -12 (MPLA) applied to Respondents' corporate negligence allegations. Before the circuit court ruled on the petition for declaratory judgment, Respondents filed an amended complaint adding new corporate negligence claims but did not fulfill the MPLA's pre-suit notice requirements. At issue was the circuit court's denial of both WVUH's petition for declaratory judgment and motion to dismiss. The Supreme Court granted a writ of prohibition, holding (1) the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the corporate negligence claims added in the amended complaint due to Respondents' failure to comply with the MPLA's pre-suit notice requirements for these claims; and (2) litigation of the corporate negligence claims that were asserted in the original complaint, and for which the pre-suit notice requirements were satisfied, were governed by the MPLA. View "State ex rel. W. Va. University Hospitals, Inc. v. Honorable Scott" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the orders of the circuit court entered under the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act, W. Va. Code 23-5-1 to -18 (the WPCA), holding that the court acted within its discretion, and there was otherwise no error.Employer in this case made withholdings from the wages of its employees that met the definition of an assignment set forth under the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act, W. Va. Code 23-5-1 to -18 (the WPCA). Employer, however, never procured from its employees a writing that complied with the conditions set forth in the WPCA. Employees filed a class-action suit to recoup Employer's withholdings. The circuit court entered an orders (1) finding Employer liable for violating the WPCA, and (2) awarding Employees the wages improperly taken from their paychecks, liquidated damages, attorney's fees, and costs. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion or err in its orders. View "Fairmont Tool, Inc. v. Davis" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted a writ of prohibition prohibiting the circuit court from enforcing an order granting class certification in the underlying civil action filed by Respondents, holding that class certification was improperly granted.The underlying suit arose after an employee of Petitioners - three hospitals, misappropriated the private information of certain patients from Petitioners' medical records during the course of performing her authorized job duties. Respondents - Deborah Welch and Eugene Roman - successfully certified a class of approximately 7,445 individuals. The Supreme Court granted this petition prohibiting the circuit court from enforcing its order granting class certification, holding (1) Welch lacked standing because she suffered no injury-in-fact; and (2) as to Roman and the subclass of 109 individuals he represented, the prerequisites to class certification were not met. View "State ex rel. W. Va. University Hospitals--East, Inc. v. Honorable Hammer" on Justia Law