West Virginia Supreme Court, 1995

The court reversed the circuit court’s affirmance of the administrative law judge’s decision and remanded for further findings on Martin’s sex-discrimination and job-classification claims.

The West Virginia Supreme Court granted the relator’s writ of prohibition, holding that the circuit judge exceeded his authority by unilaterally modifying a binding C‑type plea agreement and by ordering restitution for pain and suffering not authorized by statute.

The West Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s transfer of a juvenile‑aged murder defendant to an adult penitentiary without a pre‑transfer hearing, holding that the statutory hearing requirement can be waived by a knowing, intelligent waiver.

The Court held that the order dismissing the Attorney General’s claims against the financing defendants was immediately appealable because it effectively gutted the lawsuit as to those defendants.

The Court affirmed termination of the mother’s parental rights to Christina because the record supported the finding that the mother knew of and aided the sexual abuse. It held that Kenneth could qualify as an abused child based on a threat of harm arising from abuse of a sibling, but remanded because the record and…

The Court held that a mother’s statement in an unconsummated adoption agreement identifying the prospective adoptive father as the child’s natural father did not establish paternity under the written-acknowledgment statute and did not bar a paternity action against the biological father.

The court reversed the order granting the plaintiffs a new trial and reinstated the defense verdict. It held that an inadvertent appearance of judicial impropriety, without proof of actual bias or prejudice, does not automatically require a new trial; the plaintiffs also waived their challenge to the settlement…

The court affirmed summary judgment for Precision Coil on Williams’s employment-contract claim. Although the handbook’s disclaimer was ineffective and the handbook might have contractual implications, Williams produced no evidence that he knew of the handbook and accepted its terms; alternatively, the company followed…