Former Raleigh County prosecutor faces lawsuit alleging workplace retaliation and misconduct claims.
A former assistant prosecuting attorney in Raleigh County has filed a lawsuit accusing his ex-boss of retaliation, discrimination and creating a hostile workplace after he objected to conduct he considered improper. Chad Lilly filed the lawsuit July 24 in Raleigh County Circuit Court against former Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Hatfield, the Raleigh County Commission and county commissioners Greg Duckworth, Linda Epling and Daniel Hall. The complaint seeks financial damages and other relief over events that Lilly says damaged his career and reputation.
According to the lawsuit, Lilly repeatedly refused requests from Hatfield that he believed involved the improper use of the prosecutor’s office. Those requests included efforts to pressure witnesses, interfere with criminal cases and retaliate against public officials. Lilly also claims that problems inside the office included sexual comments and behavior involving female employees. Court documents state Hatfield made repeated comments about the appearance and bodies of women who worked in the office in addition to using sexually explicit language around employees and discussed his personal sexual relationships at work.
In one incident, according to the filing, Lilly entered the prosecutor’s office after regular working hours to complete legal work. Lilly claims he found Hatfield with a legal assistant who was partly undressed. The complaint also alleges Hatfield played recordings of sexual activity for Lilly and discussed sexual conduct in the workplace. The lawsuit states further that some female employees were treated differently because of their sex and that Lilly objected to what he witnessed. Lilly claims he reported concerns about Hatfield’s conduct to the West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), but the behavior continued.
The case also involves a criminal matter that Lilly says played a major role in his eventual termination. The lawsuit claims Hatfield directed Lilly to offer a misdemeanor plea agreement to women facing 12 felony drug charges, even though Lilly believed the evidence supported pursuing the felonies. Lilly later learned that Hatfield was allegedly involved in a personal relationship with one of the women.
Another dispute involved Duckworth, who was serving as director of security at The Resort at Glade Springs. The lawsuit says Duckworth became involved in a dispute with a resident, Daniel Greenway, and Greenway’s son. Criminal charges were later filed against Greenway. Lilly reviewed those charges and determined that they did not have enough evidence to move forward. Due to the lack of evidence, he ultimately dismissed the charges, which included trespassing, conspiracy and assault. The complaint claims he faced retaliation from Hatfield and Duckworth, both angry with the decision, and Lilly was fired three days later.
Lilly had worked as an assistant prosecutor in Raleigh County since 2022. The lawsuit says the county did not hire an outside human resources company to examine reported problems inside the prosecutor’s office until August 2024. After leaving Raleigh County, Lilly obtained a position with the Summers County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Yet, he claims his former workplace issues followed him into the new job. According to the complaint, Duckworth contacted officials in Summers County and warned that hiring Lilly would cause trouble, damaging his reputation and causing him lost income, reduced job opportunities, emotional distress, humiliation and harm to his professional reputation. He is seeking compensation for those alleged losses, along with attorney fees, court costs, interest and punitive damages.
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Lawsuit alleges retaliation, harassment by disgraced former Raleigh County prosecutor Ben Hatfield
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