Arie M. Spitz

Experience

Obtained Dismissal of a West Virginia Patient Safety Act Claim

A former hospital administrator’s claim of retaliation in violation of the West Virginia Patient Safety Act was dismissed because we proved that the former employee was not subject to the Act’s protection because she was an administrator.

Obtained Order Enforcing an Arbitration Award

We successfully defeated a plaintiff’s challenge to an arbitration award in our client’s favor.

Successfully Defended Appeal of the Dismissal of Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Conversion Claims

We obtained dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty and conversation claims against our client, a bank, based upon the statute of limitations. The plaintiff, an attorney, had deposited client funds into an account under his name. These funds were seized by the state of West Virginia as a result of the lawyer owing back taxes. The lawyer sued the bank, alleging that it should not have permitted the state to seize the funds because they were client funds, despite being in an account in his name. We argued that the lawyer knew for more than five years of the seizure of the funds before he filed suit and that the claims should be dismissed under the statute of limitations. After we prevailed at the Circuit Court, the lawyer appealed to the West Virginia Supreme Court, which upheld the dismissal.

Summary Judgment on an ERISA Claim for Benefits

Our client contended that the widow of its deceased employee was entitled to life insurance benefits under the client’s employee benefits plan. The insurance company that sponsored the plan denied coverage for the benefits. Our client fought on behalf of the widow of its deceased employee to establish coverage for the benefits by arguing that that insurance company had abused its discretion in denying the benefits. We ultimately prevailed and were grated summary judgment against the insurance company.

Summary Judgment on Employment Discrimination Claims

We successfully demonstrated to the judge that a hospital administrator’s allegations of harassment by a male nurse and failure by the hospital to properly respond to her report of harassment could not be tied to a gender motivated bias. This summary judgment award was subsequently upheld on appeal.

Carr-Lambert v. Grant County Bd. of Educ., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89456 (N.D. W. Va. Aug. 11, 2011)

We defended the president of the Grant County Board of Education in a third-party complaint that alleged harassment, intimidation, malicious actions and bad faith. The plaintiff, a member of the board, alleged that our client intimidated and retaliated against her for voting not to renew the employment contract of the current superintendent, and claimed damage to her mental health and reputation. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia found that the acts of our client were within the scope of his employment as president of the board, and were not of a malicious purpose or made in bad faith. Summary judgment was granted for our client.