Service to Fairport Harbor has been restored, but attorney Mark DiCello, whose firm represents many of the town's residents in a class-action complaint against Dominion Gas, says the lack of an explanation for the accident plus the company's resistance to paying out-of-pocket expenses before the claim is settled is devastating the community.
"It is a shame that Dominion's corporate position is that it will not pay out of pocket costs without first forcing victims to sign away their legal rights," says DiCello. He has asked the courts to appoint a special master to determine victims' claims and oversee the process as has been done in similar complex litigation situations.
"There are people who have lost everything, there are people who have had who knows how many fast food breakfasts and this is getting very old for them," says DiCello. "People tell us, they can't sleep at night, and they think they smell gas, or they think they hear something."
DiCello has filed a complex class-action complaint alleging the cause of the early morning explosion Dominion Gas failed in its duty to maintain its gas distribution system. "There were faulty pressure regulators, faulty piping and other materials," says DiCello. "The essence of the suit is that homes aren't supposed to explode."
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Mark DiCello obtained his JD from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland University. He is a former assistant prosecutor and advocate for mental health and the rights of the homeless. DiCello law has expertise in mass torts, complex litigation, wrongful death and trucking litigation and has won numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts for its clients.