Wood County Commission responds to original Matheny lawsuit

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - Wood County Commission has filed a response to a lawsuit filed by a former sheriff’s deputy.

In October, Della Matheny filed a lawsuit against the commission, the sheriff’s department, and Sheriff Steve Stephens.

Commission filed an answer to that lawsuit on November 24. You can read it here.

The filing denies the claims Matheny and her attorneys made against county commission.

It also calls for either a jury trial or for the case to be dismissed.

The document draws several lines between county commission and Stephens, whom the body claims it has very little authority over.

Commission has said it only has oversight of the sheriff’s department’s budget, not the sheriff himself.

One section of the document says “...Defendant [Wood County Commission] is unaware whether Plaintiff [Della Matheny] performed her job duties in a satisfactory manner for her employer or if she met the reasonable expectations of her employer. Defendant did not employ her outside of its statutory designation as ‘joint employer’ which designation is not accompanied by any actual employment relationship other than providing funding to the elected officials office for the payment of its employees. Therefore, Defendant had no expectations of Plaintiff as an employee of an elected official.”

Matheny’s lawsuit claims Sheriff Stephens created a hostile work environment, among other issues, causing her to quit her job as a sergeant in the sheriff’s department.

It also claims Wood County Commission failed to address ongoing problems in the sheriff’s department and with Stephens, despite knowing about them and having the power to do something about those problems.

Wood County Commission is being represented by Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe, PLLC.

County Commission President Blair Couch deferred comment to one of commission’s attorneys, who could not be reached.

Attorney Todd Bailess, one of the lawyers representing Matheny, said he didn’t have any comments about the filing from Wood County Commission.

He did note that this answer is only a reply to the original complaint, which has since been amended.

Bailess says Wood County Commission has not been served with the amended complaint yet. Once all the defendants have been served, the process will repeat and commission will have to answer it before a set deadline.

From there, the court would hand down a scheduling order with a trial date on it.

Two other lawsuits have been filed against the county, which you can read about here and here.

Sheriff Stephens is set to retire on December 1.

Wood County 911 Center Director Rick Woodyard will be interim sheriff after Stephens retires.

Voters will pick someone to complete Stephens’ 2020-2024 term in the spring.

Woodyard has said he plans to run for the office in spring.

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