Judge dismisses lawsuit

The judge said an employee failed to follow state law in making the claim.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A Columbiana County judge has scrapped a lawsuit filed by a former Carriage Hill Foods executive who alleged the company wrongfully fired her for reporting what she thought were illegal activities.
Judge C. Ashley Pike of county common pleas court dismissed the 2001 lawsuit in a ruling filed earlier this week.
Judge Pike determined that Cindy Grove of Beloit failed to properly follow the state's whistle-blower statute in making claims that the company was involved in a scheme to employ illegal aliens at its meat-processing plant in Salem.
The statute protects employees from retribution if they report an employer's illegal activities. But the law also demands that certain procedures be followed.
Judge Pike stated that the whistle-blower statute requires an employee to notify the employer of an alleged violation in detail and allow the employer 24 hours to correct the violation before reporting the matter to authorities.
Grove failed to meet that requirement with an e-mail communication that lacked sufficient detail regarding her claims, Judge Pike said.
She also has been unable since then to substantiate her allegation of an illegal hiring scheme at Carriage Hill, the judge said.
Lawsuit details
The lawsuit claimed that Grove discovered in January 2001 that the company was falsifying records and counterfeiting Social Security cards for the purpose of employing illegal aliens.
The company has denied any such scheme existed.
It also has denied Grove's allegation that the company fired her in October 2001 in retaliation for reporting her illegal hiring claim to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Grove's lawsuit sought compensatory damages of more than $25,000 and punitive damages of $10 million.
Carriage Hill has argued that Grove, who worked as a human resources administrator, was fired for business reasons unrelated to her allegations.
In his dismissal ruling, Judge Pike said there appears to be sufficient grounds to support her being fired.
After the lawsuit originally was filed, it was sent to federal court in Cleveland because it contained an allegation that the federal racketeering act had been violated.
But in April, a federal judge dismissed that claim and sent the case back to common pleas court.
leigh@vindy.com