The firing of longtime West Virginia Culture and History Archivist Fred Armstrong will stand.
On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court issued an opinion that affirmed a 2010 ruling from Kanawha County Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib that found the proper procedures were followed before Armstrong, a 30 year state employee, was fired.
The West Virginia Employees’ Grievance Board had also upheld Armstrong’s 2007 firing.
Armstrong, though, had argued he did not get a proper hearing.
During arguments in front of the Supreme Court on the case in February, Jim Lees, the attorney for Armstrong, said his client should have been given a chance to tell his side of the story.
"What did Fred Armstrong decide? Do you know? You don’t know and the reason you don’t know is because we’ve never had an evidentiary hearing. Everybody is speculating about what Armstrong did or did not do," Lees said at that time.
The Supreme Court found such a hearing is not necessary in this case.
State Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid Smith fired Armstrong, who was a will and pleasure employee, in 2007.