Case 3:20-cv-00102-GMG Document 1 Filed 06/18/20 Page 1 of 5 PageID #: 1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST

VIRGINIA
ELECTRONICALLY
FILED
MARK YOUNKER, Jun 18 2020
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
Plaintiff, Northern District of WV

v. Case No: 3:20-CV-102 (Groh)

CITY OF KEISER,
PAUL SABIN,
Defendants.

COMPLAINT

Comes now the Plaintiff, Mark Younker, and complains against the Defendants as

follows:

1. At all times relevant herein, Plaintiff has been an officer with the Keiser Police

Department who resides in Allegany County, Maryland.

2. Defendant City of Keiser is a municipality in Mineral County, West Virginia with the

capacity to sue or be sued.

3. Defendant Paul Sabin is the Keiser Police Department’s Chief of Police who resides in

West Virginia.

4. All relevant acts of Defendants in this case occurred in Mineral County, West Virginia.

5. Jurisdiction is proper in this matter under both federal question jurisdiction, 28 USC §

1331, and supplemental jurisdiction under 28 USC § 1367, or, in the alternative, diversity

jurisdiction under 28 USC §1332.

6. All damages and requests for compensation relating to these matters are being demanded

up to the limits of applicable insurance coverage wherever they are so limited by law.
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7. On or about August of 2019, Plaintiff made disclosures of wrongdoing against the Keiser

Police Department to relevant supervisors regarding hours worked on behalf of Keiser

police officers which was going uncompensated insomuch as officers were engaging in 6

hours of overtime at least every other week which was going completely uncompensated.

8. In response to these disclosures, Defendant Sabin, at the time Sgt. Sabin, threatened to

alter all officers’ schedules to the negative and publicly blame Plaintiff for the change.

9. On or about January of 2020, Plaintiff Younker made disclosures of wrongdoing against

the Keiser Police Chief, Defendant Sabin, and the City of Keiser, regarding The Keiser

Police Department’s failure to abide by the provisions of the West Virginia Police Civil

Service Act and other violations of law.

10. Since making said disclosures at paragraphs , Plaintiff has been subject to repeated acts

of reprisal and retaliation, including but not limited to:

a. Disparate treatment by Chief Sabin regarding application of rules of discipline as

compared to other officers.

b. Disparate treatment regarding promotions and failure to promote.

c. Disparate treatment regarding job duties and shift assignments.

d. Withholding of owed wages.

11. Defendant Sabin has, since Plaintiff’s disclosures, repeatedly made comments to other

officers that he will be terminating Plaintiff’s employment.

12. Defendant Sabin has further retaliated by publishing defamatory comments about

Plaintiff to local news organizations and bloggers, including the false statements that the

city “lacks the budget for all his reprimands,” that Plaintiff is not technically recognized a
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member of the Keiser Police Department, and that Defendant Sabin cannot verify

Plaintiff’s employment history.

13. Plaintiff has further complained of the reprisals and disparate treatment to Municipal

authorities, including the Keiser Mayor and the City Administrator, and neither have

taken any action to redress the systemic wrongs which have been perpetrated against

Plaintiff.

14. Defendant Sabin is an agent and employee of Defendant City of Keiser.

15. As a result of Defendant Sabin’s defamatory statements, Plaintiff has been regularly

verbally accosted and criticized by members of the community who have read said

defamatory comments.

16. The actions of Defendants have caused Plaintiff such emotional trauma that he has been

put on medical leave by his physician because of the effect that the stress has placed on

Plaintiffs pre-existing high blood pressure.

17. Plaintiff has suffered reputational damages, emotional distress, and physical pain and

suffering as a direct and proximate result of Defendant Sabin’s defamatory statements.

18. Plaintiff has suffered economic damages in the form of lost wages and pension benefits

and emotional distress damages as a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ reprisals

and retaliation for his disclosures of wrongdoing.

COUNT I: VIOLATION OF THE UNITED STATES FAIR LABOR STANDARDS

ACT

19. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations above as if stated fully herein.

20. Plaintiff, by virtue of his employment as a police officer with the Keiser Police

Department, engages in interstate “commerce,” as defined under 29 USC § 203(b).

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21. Defendants, by failing to compensate Plaintiff for his overtime at the rate of 1.5 times his

regular hourly wage, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207.

22. As a direct and proximate result of these violations, Plaintiff has suffered damages in the

form of a loss of 6 hours of overtime pay every other week since his time with the Keiser

Police Department began.

COUNT II: VIOLATION OF THE WEST VIRGINIA WHISTLEBLOWER LAW

23. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations above as if stated fully herein.

24. Defendants, by engaging in acts of reprisal and retaliation against Plaintiff, as outlined

above, for his above described disclosures of wrongdoing, violated the West Virginia

Whistleblower Law, W.Va. Code § 6C-1-1, et seq.

25. As a direct and proximate result of said acts of reprisal, Plaintiff has suffered economic

damages in the form of lost promotion and pension benefits, and has further suffered

emotional distress and physical pain and suffering.

COUNT III: DEFAMATION AGAINST DEFENDANT SABIN

26. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations above as if stated fully herein.

27. Defendant Sabin, by making the disclosures indicated above, has published defamatory

statements against Plaintiff to a third party which Defendant Sabin knew or, by the

exercise of due care, should have known to be false.

28. As a direct and proximate result of these defamatory statements, Plaintiff suffered

damages in the form of reputational damage, emotional distress, and physical pain and

suffering.
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WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully requests that this Honorable Court provide the

following relief:

1. Economic damages for lost wages and lost retirement benefits in an amount to be proven

at trial;

2. Damages for emotional distress;

3. Damages for physical pain and suffering;

4. Punitive damages where allowed by law;

5. Prejudgment interest on all liquated sums from the date of incident until the return of a

verdict in favor of the Plaintiff

6. Post-judgment interest on all special and general damages from the date of the jury

verdict in favor of Plaintiffs until payment;

7. Attorney fees; and

8. Any such other and further relief as to this Honorable Court may seem necessary and just,

including but not limited to potential reinstatement of employment with Defendant.

PLAINTIFF REQUESTS A TRIAL BY JURY

PLAINTIFF,

By Counsel:

/s/ Christian J. Riddell

Christian J. Riddell (State Bar #12202)
329 S. Queen Street
Martinsburg, WV 25401
(304)267-3949