WILEY FORD - The former manager of the Greater Cumberland Regional Airport is taking his lawsuit against the Potomac Highlands Airport Authority to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Terry Malone, who served as manager of the airport until March 2012, when his contract was not renewed, continued to serve on the airport authority governing the operation of the airport until February 2013, when he and then-chairman Max White both agreed to resign in the midst of an argument over allegations made by Malone over fuel sales.
Shortly after Malone resigned, the PHAA sent him a letter barring him from airport property.
Malone filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court in August of that year, stating he cannot be barred from public property and seeking damages which he said were caused by his inability to access the airport except by prior written request.
"The airport is public property and is supported mostly by public funds and a person cannot be arbitrarily barred for no reason," he told the News Tribune.
Circuit Court Judge Phil Jordan dismissed that case on July 28, 2014, however, saying Malone had failed to prove he had been harmed by the PHAA's actions.
On Aug. 26, 2014, Malone, represented by Harry A. Smith III of McNeer, Highland, McMunn and Varner law firm, filed an appeal of Jordan's decision with the Supreme Court.
Malone said prior to his appeal he had offered to not take the case to the state level if the PHAA "would rescind the letter barring me from the airport property."
He said he felt the offered settlement would "save the taxpayers and myself a lot of money ... because it is not cheap to fight a case in the Supreme Court.
"I would also have considered dropping the suit for court costs, legal fees, loss of wages and punitive damages," he added.
With the PHAA's decision to not accept the settlement, however, Malone said, "This offer no longer stands."
According to Supreme Court documents, Malone's attorney will have until Feb. 4, 2015 to file a series of documents, which include a transcript of the Circuit Court hearing.
Once that deadline has passed, the state court will consider the case and "parties will be notified in writing of any decision in the case."
- Source: http://www.newstribune.info
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