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PARKERSBURG -- An amended lawsuit was filed by former sergeant Della Matheny against Wood County Sheriff Steve Stephens and the Wood County Commission earlier this month.
On Oct. 22, Matheny filed a suit making allegations against Stephens including "inappropriate comments" about her weight and appearance, his "infatuation" with her social life and her sex life, his "obsession" with Deputy Tasha Hewitt -- who filed a formal complaint against Stephens in March 2020 -- and his "retaliation" against Matheny due to her involvement with that complaint, according to the lawsuit.
The Oct. 22 lawsuit also named the county commission, as it was recommended for the Sheriff's Department to complete sexual harassment training which, according to the suit, never took place.
During the Oct. 26 county commission meeting, commission president Blair Couch said any time a county official or institution is named in a lawsuit, the commission is also named because "we are the purse strings of the county," he said. "With this lawsuit, one of the fallacies is that we have control over (an elected official's) employees. The way it works is the elected official is responsible for their employees and how they run their office. Far be it from the commission to say how."
In Matheny's amended lawsuit filed Nov. 4, it cites Article IV, Section 11 of the West Virginia Constitution, which states the commission has the authority to manage and/or arrange "and administer, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, the police affairs of the county," the amended lawsuit said.
Matheny's attorney Bill Merriman said the commission has the ability to "supervise and make recommendations jointly with the sheriff in certain circumstances."
The amended suit also said Matheny was jointly employed by the Wood County Commission and Wood County Sheriff's Department and it "makes it clear that as a general proposition, the county commission and the individual elected county officials are joint employers of those employees and the various county offices."
One item retracted from the original lawsuit said the action was to only seek damages up to the insurance policy limits and that the claims would not cost West Virginia taxpayers money.
Merriman said it was not mentioned in the amended lawsuit because it "does not apply to the case. (It's) just a technicality," he said.
In regard to the lawsuit and other allegations against Stephens, the Wood County Commission appointed Goodwin & Goodwin LLP of Charleston to conduct an investigation.
R. Booth Goodwin wrote a letter to Couch saying the team interviewed more than two dozen witnesses and gathered additional evidence. Goodwin said he and a couple members of his team met with Stephens, who agreed to resign. Commissioners received Stephens' letter of resignation stating his retirement effective Dec. 1 during Monday's commission meeting.
Merriman said despite Stephens' retirement, he believes Matheny will move forward with the lawsuit.
Staff reporter Brett Dunlap also contributed to the story.
Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.