A woman who worked 15 years as an investigator for the state Medical Examiner's Office claims she was fired for refusing to take part in a plot to conceal the office's mishandling of human remains.
Regina D. Reynolds accuses the state Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Public Health in a lawsuit filed Thursday of firing her when she refused to burn the human remains she found in a box in the office. The remains were supposed to have been buried in a cemetery.
While working last year in an evidence room of the DHHR, Reynolds discovered the skeletal remains of a man, identified in the lawsuit only by his initials, "D.H." Reynolds recognized the remains from a 2010 case, which she had worked on with forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley, according to the lawsuit. She remembered the case because of D.H.'s "unique skeletal features," according to the lawsuit.
When she found the case file for "D.H." she noticed that the file signaled the case had been closed, and a document in the file said the DHHR had released the corpse in March 2011 to the Charleston Mortuary. The remains had been returned to D.H.'s family, the file stated, according to the complaint. And D.H. had been buried at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton, according to the death certificate.
"This information was highly concerning to Ms. Reynolds because this meant that either D.H. had not actually been buried in the West Virginia National Cemetery and the grave bearing his name is empty, or another person is buried in the grave bearing D.H.'s name," the lawsuit states.
Reynolds worked from 2000 until she was fired in July as a medicolegal investigator, a job that consisted of conducting fingerprinting, photography, assisting the forensic anthropologist employed with the Smithsonian Institution and responding to crime scenes and disasters, according to her complaint. She also served as a liaison between the pathologist, law enforcement and county medical examiners.
Charleston attorneys Todd Bailess, Rodney Smith and Joy Mega filed the lawsuit on her behalf.
Upon finding the remains, Reynolds claims she notified Don Raynes, the acting chief medical examiner, and asked him to meet her in the evidence room, where the remains were located.
Raynes arrived with his assistant, Michelle O'Brien, according to the lawsuit.
After Reynolds told Raynes about what she had discovered, Raynes turned to his assistant and allegedly stated, "This is not good," the complaint states.
"In an attempt to cover up what Ms. Reynolds uncovered, Mr. Raynes ordered Ms. Reynolds to get rid of the problem by burning D.H.'s remains," the lawsuit states.
Reynolds' lawsuit states she knew following that order would be illegal and unethical so she refused.
She contacted Jim Hanshaw, who was her immediate supervisor and chief investigator at the time, according to the complaint. A man named Johnny Douglas arrived with Hanshaw and Reynolds says she showed both men the file on D.H. and his remains. She also told the men that Raynes had told her to burn the remains.
Hanshaw said that would not be appropriate, according to the lawsuit.
Reynolds contacted the Office of the Inspector General. She spent May 1 being interviewed by the OIG for more than four hours, according to the complaint.
While there, according to the lawsuit, she expressed concern that she would be fired for coming forward about the remains and her allegations against Raynes.
An investigator with the OIG, Tim Tomer, allegedly told her that she couldn't be fired because she was a witness.
Two days after she met with OIG representatives, she was called to Raynes' office, according to the complaint.
O'Brien and Douglas were with Raynes in his office when Reynolds arrived. Raynes allegedly became angry and knew that someone had contacted and filed a complaint with OIG officials.
He allegedly held up files in the air with Reynolds' name and allegedly stated he was going to give OIG files about cases she had worked on.
Reynolds knew then, her lawsuit states, that Raynes had found out about her complaint against him.
On May 5, the day after Raynes confronted her, Reynolds was asked to attend a conference over allegations that she, herself, had mishandled evidence and become the target of an inspector general investigation.
Hanshaw, Douglas and other representatives from the DHHR and OIG were at the conference. Reynolds was read her Miranda Rights and questioned about the allegations over mishandling evidence.
Several of the files concerning the allegations against her were years old, the lawsuit states. But when she asked to review the files in question so she could possibly refresh her memory, her request was denied.
Several days later, after the conference, Reynolds received a letter from the DHHR that her employment was being suspended without pay pending an investigation into the allegations she had mishandled evidence. The letter directed her to turn over her work-related keys, ID cards and access cards for the parking lot and work sites.
On July 1, she received another letter stating she had been fired.
Her lawsuit asks that she be compensated under the state whistleblower act for damages for indignity, embarrassment, humiliation and emotional distress. She does not want her job back, the lawsuit states.
Toby Wagoner, spokesman for the DHHR, said Friday that the office doesn't comment on pending litigation or personnel issues.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.