Spilman recently won an appeal before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, affirming the Circuit Court of Wood County's dismissal of several employment-related claims. The state Supreme Court determined that Petitioner's second lawsuit was barred under the doctrine of res judicata due to her failure to pursue all of her employment claims during her first lawsuit, where the Spilman team previously prevailed on summary judgment. The Court held that the "conditions and predicate for bringing the claims" were the same in both lawsuits, notwithstanding that the specific incidents of discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation may have differed. As a result, since the new allegations occurred while the initial litigation was pending in the first lawsuit, it was incumbent on Petitioner to timely move for relief in that suit, whether by seeking leave to amend the complaint or otherwise, instead of trying to raise the issues by filing a second lawsuit.

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