CHARLESTON – A St. Albans combat veteran and nurse says he was left with no choice but resign after being discriminated against by CAMC.
Christopher Eric Lawrence filed his complaint March 23 in Kanawha Circuit Court against CAMC Health Network LLC doing business as Vandalia Health Network and Charleston Area Medical Center Inc. dba CAMC.
Lawrence is a registered nurse and a U.S. Army veteran. The complaint says he served in Afghanistan as a combat medic and licensed practical nurse, and he was awarded the Bronze Star as well as other medals and awards during his service.
He has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and is a registered nurse. He worked for CAMC from 1998 to 2020, and he worked for Fresenius as a dialysis nurse from 2021 to 2023. He then returned to CAMC working at CAMC Teays Valley before transferring to CAMC General Division at the end of 2024.
Lawrence says he was 53 years old when he resigned October 13, 2025.
“The ICU nurse pool included predominantly non-veterans and nurses substantially younger — often 10 to 20 years younger — than plaintiff,” the complaint states.
Starting in May 2025, Lawrence says the defendants began “a pattern of attempting to remove plaintiff from the ICU and to pressure him to resign through inaccurate and pretextual accusations about his performance, including characterizing him as ‘slow.’”
The complaint calls it an attempt to constructively discharge him through inaccurate accusations about his work performance. In August, he says the defendants made additional inaccurate accusations about his work but failed to conduct an adequate investigation and didn’t interview him as part of the investigation.
Lawrence says he responded in writing and verbally to management. He also he reported to Human Resources that said a co-worker said Lawrence was being targeted.
“Plaintiff complained that younger nurses embarrassed him in front of peers regarding a tube-feeding issue and that he was not being treated impartially,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff asked whether he was being treated unfairly because of his age and/or because of his status as a veteran.”
Lawrence also says the defendants have “a history of retaliating against employees who make complaints against them.”
“Plaintiff told the defendant that he and his wife have been on eggshells in fear he would come into work and be fired,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff indicated plaintiff ‘had to think that my career and livelihood are in jeopardy given the email you sent saying you’re going to schedule a meeting about whether this is the best place for me to continue to work.”
On October 13, Lawrence told the defendants that because of their unfair and discriminatory attempts to make him resign his employment before eventually wrongfully discharging him, he had no reasonable choice but to resign.
Lawrence accuses the defendants of age discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act, violation of public policy including the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 as well as discrimination based on veterans’ status.
He seeks general damages, special damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
Lawrence is being represented by John Einreinhofer of the Law Offices of John Einreinhofer in South Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 26-C-366
