West Virginia State Police whistleblower files lawsuit

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WOWK) — Joseph Comer, the former West Virginia State Police trooper who wrote a five-page anonymous letter alleging wrongdoing and sparking an investigation into the agency, has filed a lawsuit against it.

The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 8 in Kanawha County Circuit Court. Comer is suing the West Virginia State Police, former Superintendent Jan Cahill and two troopers with the agency.

Comer is accusing the defendants of violating the state’s whistleblower law, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress/outrage, defamation, retaliatory prosecution, wrongful termination, violating his First Amendment rights, and civil conspiracy. He is asking the court to award him available damages and is asking for a jury trial.

He alleges the West Virginia State Police retaliated against him for asking questions about cameras allegedly being put in the women’s locker room at the agency’s training facility, and that they allegedly tried to arrest him before he could present evidence of the alleged retaliation.

The lawsuit also says that Comer was issued a “Superintendent’s Notice of Intent to Discipline” that said he had been in an inappropriate relationship while at the Academy and misuse of the State Police’s Computer-Aided Dispatch.

The suit claims this notice was “baseless and frivolous, and clearly had been orchestrated by Defendants to punish and silence” Comer.

It also alleges a meeting was held for some Academy members where they discussed the investigation into Comer and the superintendent’s notice.

The lawsuit goes on to talk about Comer’s court proceedings and what happened after. Comer was accused of domestic battery and felony strangulation in connection to two child custody exchanges in a hotel parking lot in Ritchie County, West Virginia, on Dec. 5 and Dec. 12, 2022.

A domestic violence protective order would be dismissed a few months later, and in September 2023, Comer would turn himself in on a bond violation arrest warrant . His employment was terminated , and he would plead guilty in November 2023 .

According to the lawsuit, the defendant and another person “[began] stalking” Comer while he was at a home where a department-issued weapon would be accessible.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.