A Kanawha County Circuit judge last week dismissed claims that the former director of the West Virginia State Police forensic laboratory acted as a private citizen when she spoke to lawmakers about concerns at the lab.
Judge Carrie Webster on Thursday, granted State Police summary judgment and threw out the lawsuit filed against it last year by former lab director Soraya M. McClung.
"I realize this might be a question that goes to the Supreme Court," the judge said. "I didn't take my decision in this ruling lightly."
McClung claims she was demoted as director in retaliation for voicing concerns about conditions at the lab during the 2014 Legislative session. She was moved to an analyst position, which involved a pay cut. She resigned last year.
McClung was exercising her rights as a private citizen under the West Virginia Constitution by expressing opinions about the conditions and needs of the state's crime lab, according to her complaint.
"She has an absolute right to voice her opinion," said her lawyer Paul Frampton Jr.
Lawyers for the State Police argue, though, that when McClung addressed lawmakers, she was acting in her official capacity as a public employee, not as a private citizen. She also allegedly shared internal information with lawmakers without permission from her supervisors, State Police lawyer, Lou Ann Cyrus, said.
McClung was at the Capitol advocating for a pay raise, when she was approached by state Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, for information about the crime lab.
"How can it be argued she was not approached in her capacity as director?" Webster said, before making her ruling.
"There has to be some limitations on it," the judge said. "The fact that I learn information within the scope of my employment doesn't mean I can utilize it."
The Gazette-Mail reported two years ago that McClung asked state legislators for raises for crime lab employees to compete with salaries in surrounding states.
She told lawmakers that the lab was understaffed because employees often left West Virginia to go to other labs where salaries are better. The staff shortage had created a backlog of more than 2,800 unanalyzed cases, McClung told lawmakers, adding also that the majority of employees at the lab had less than 10 years experience.
McClung, who now lives in Texas, was working as quality assurance director of the lab in 2007 when she was named director. She had worked more than 20 years at the crime lab.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1724 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.