Larry Starcher

The case concerned a non-profit community theater organization that was assessed by the State Tax Commissioner for failing to collect and remit consumer sales taxes on ticket admissions from 2001-2003 and for failing to pay use taxes on goods and services from 1999-2003. The taxpayer argued it was exempt from both taxes under state law due to its status as a 501(c)(3) organization focused on charitable and educational activities. The Office of Tax Appeals and the circuit court upheld the assessments, interpreting exemptions narrowly to require physical health and fitness purposes for sales tax relief and governmental contributions for use tax relief. The Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the circuit court's order sustaining the assessments.

taxesbusiness & regulatory

The case concerned Waco Oil and Gas Co.'s application for a permit to operate a sandstone quarry in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The Department of Environmental Protection denied the permit after finding that the proposed operations would impair recreational use, aesthetic values, and future beneficial uses of the area, and the Surface Mine Board upheld that denial. The circuit court reversed, holding that denial was permitted only if all quarrying activity in the area were banned outright. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reinstated the Board's order, concluding that the Quarry Reclamation Act (W.Va. Code §§ 22-4-7 and 22-4-8) authorizes case-by-case permit denials based on the specific harms from an individual proposal without requiring a blanket prohibition on quarrying.

environmentbusiness & regulatory

In Schmehl v. Helton, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals addressed whether a corporate officer could be held personally liable for consumer sales taxes collected by a bar and restaurant but not remitted to the state. The court upheld the circuit court's decision that Barry D. Schmehl, serving as corporate secretary and bookkeeper for Filly's of America, Inc., was personally liable for $172,816.63 in unremitted taxes plus penalties and interest. The ruling relied on W. Va. Code § 11-15-17, which makes corporate officers jointly and severally liable for the tax defaults of the corporation. The court rejected the officer's statute of limitations defense and due process challenges, finding the statute valid and applicable based on his role in tax-related duties.

taxesbusiness & regulatory

The case involved Clearon Corp., a chemical manufacturer, appealing a circuit court ruling that granted unemployment benefits to two long-term employees, Boggs and Childress, who had accepted the company's voluntary early retirement package offered to reduce workforce costs without layoffs. The Board of Review had denied benefits, finding the employees voluntarily quit, but the trial court reversed that decision. The West Virginia Supreme Court reversed the trial court, holding that the employees were disqualified from benefits because they initiated their separation by accepting the retirement offer, even though the employer proposed the plan and their positions were not at risk of layoff. The court reasoned that under state unemployment law, a claimant who leaves work voluntarily without good cause involving employer fault cannot receive benefits, and this was not a forced reduction in force.

labor & employment

The case involved a dispute over a 1994 settlement agreement in which members of the Sunset Addition Property Owners Association agreed to construct a sewage treatment facility for their homes in a subdivision developed by the Watsons. The circuit court found the Association members in contempt for failing to install the facility, but the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed that finding. The court reasoned that a party cannot be held in contempt for failing to perform an act that is legally impossible, such as installing a plant without a required permit from the DHHR/OEHS, especially when the inability to comply was not the party's fault. The case was remanded with directions to consolidate related proceedings in Logan County.

environmentpropertyprocedure

In this case, plaintiffs Clinton and Jessie San Francisco sued Wendy's International after Mr. San Francisco became severely ill shortly after eating a hamburger purchased from a Wendy's drive-through that he later described as undercooked and raw inside. The circuit court excluded the testimony of two expert witnesses—a treating physician who used differential diagnosis to link the illness to the hamburger and a food safety expert who opined that pre-formed verotoxin from E. coli in the meat caused the rapid symptoms—finding their opinions unreliable under Daubert and West Virginia evidence rules, then granted summary judgment to Wendy's for lack of evidence. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed, holding that both experts were qualified by their training and experience, their methodologies were sufficiently reliable, and the opinions should have been admitted for trial. The court remanded for further proceedings on the food poisoning claim alleging an unsafe food product.

torts & liabilityprocedure