A doctor who worked for the West Virginia Medical Examiner's Office for 12 years filed a lawsuit this week against the Department of Health and Human Resources alleging he was wrongly fired.
Mahmoud E. Hamada also claims that the DHHR was wrong to have filed a complaint against him with the Board of Medicine, which was later dismissed.
According to the complaint filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court on Thursday, Mahmoud was fired within four days of taking a medical leave of absence that had been approved by his supervisor and ordered by his personal physician.
Mahmoud had suffered a serious health condition that made him unable to perform his job, according to the lawsuit. As a result, his doctor placed him on a medical leave of absence, which was approved by his superiors, the complaint states.
His termination was a violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the lawsuit filed by Charleston attorney Clint Smith alleges.
The complaint states that Mahmoud was vindicated when the Board of Medicine dismissed a complaint filed against him. Those complaints aren't public. Smith couldn't be reached Friday.
According to the Board of Medicine's website, Mahmoud doesn't have any disciplinary record.
Allison Adler, spokeswoman for the DHHR, said the agency wouldn't comment on pending litigation.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1723 or @KateLWhite on Twitter.