Opinion ID: 1358675
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Human Rights Act

Text: The final question by the District Court concerns whether the West Virginia Human Rights Act, W.Va.Code, 5-11-1 to -19, creates a nebulous public policy against all forms of harassment for purposes of wrongful discharge. W.Va.Code, 5-11-2 [1994] declares: It is the public policy of the state of West Virginia to provide all of its citizens equal opportunity for employment, equal access to places of public accommodations, and equal opportunity in the sale, purchase, lease, rental and financing of housing accommodations or real property. Equal opportunity in the areas of employment and public accommodations is hereby declared to be a human right or civil right of all persons without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, blindness or handicap. Equal opportunity in housing accommodations or real property is hereby declared to be a human right or civil right of all persons without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, blindness, handicap, or familial status. The denial of these rights to properly qualified persons by reason of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, blindness, handicap, or familial status is contrary to the principles of freedom and equality of opportunity and is destructive to a free and democratic society. The plaintiff was a white male under 40 years of age [9] at the time that he quit working for the defendant. However, he contends that the West Virginia Human Rights Act in general, and W.Va.Code, 5-11-2 [1994] in particular, establishes a substantial public policy that no individual may be deprived of his human rights or civil rights for any reason in West Virginia. He then reasons that all forms of harassment of an individual by his employer is violative of those human rights and civil rights. In any employment case under the West Virginia Human Rights Act, we believe that the question to be decided is not whether an employment decision was fair or made in accordance with pre-established procedures. The question is whether the individual was discriminated against because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, blindness, or handicap. Accordingly, we answer the District Court's question in the negative, and hold that no general public policy against harassment in the workplace is created by the West Virginia Human Rights Act for purposes of West Virginia wrongful discharge law.