The director of retail operations claims she suffered "severe damage to her reputation and emotional distress" from her superiors' alleged retaliation.
Credit: 13News Now
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia ABC employee has filed a lawsuit against the agency alleging she endured retaliation and defamation for reporting millions of dollars in inventory was missing.
In the complaint filed on Dec. 13, Jennifer Burke, Virginia ABC director of retail operations, claims she suffered "severe damage to her reputation and emotional distress" from the "hostile work environment" created by her superiors after she participated in whistleblowing activities.
The alleged retaliation is linked back to incidents beginning in February 2022 when the then-CEO of Virginia ABC Travis Hill temporarily directed Burke to the warehouse, where she and her team were expected to organize the "immense inventory" ahead of its move to a new location, according to the lawsuit.
While preparing for the warehouse's move, Burke and her team discovered there was inventory amounting to more than $2 million missing from the warehouse, along with improper payments made to third-party vendors, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit said when Burke reported the losses and the mismanagement of her supervisor, Mark Dunham of Virginia ABC's Chief Retail Operations Office, to Hill and Dunham, Virginia ABC purportedly "engaged in a cover-up" rather than report it to the Virginia ABC Board of Directors.
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