In Ewing v. Board of Education of the County of Summers, 202 W. Va. 228, 503 S.E.2d 541 (1998), the Court found that, although the educational employees' grievance procedure permits an aggrieved employee to seek relief by either an appeal or a writ of mandamus, the employee may not engage both methods simultaneously but rather must choose one and follow that method to its conclusion. Syllabus point 6 of Ewing holds: "When an individual is adversely affected by an educational employment decision rendered pursuant to W. Va. Code 18A-4-7a (1993) (Repl. Vol. 1997), he/she may obtain relief from the adverse decision in one of two ways. First, he/she may request relief by mandamus as permitted by W. Va. Code 18A-4-7a. In the alternative, he/she may seek redress through the educational employees' grievance procedure described in W. Va. Code 18-29-1 to 18-29-11 (1992)(Repl. Vol. 1994). Once an employee chooses one of these courses of relief, though, he/she is constrained to follow that course to its finality." (202 W. Va. 228, 503 S.E.2d 541.)