West Virginia Department of Corrections v. Lemasters

NEELY, Justice:

This is an appeal by the Department of Corrections (the Department) from an order of the West Virginia Civil Service Commission (the Commission) which overturned the dismissal of Hughie Lemasters, an employee of the Department of Corrections. The Department had dismissed Mr. Lemas-ters because he had either sold or given fire arms to a former inmate on the day of that inmate’s release. The Commission ruled that this sanction was excessive and instead imposed a three-month suspension. The Department appeals claiming that the Commission erred in its reading of the law and in its…