COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Supreme Court of Ohio has ordered a halt to a lawsuit against Dominion Energy made by the family of a deceased Lakewood woman, saying the case must be brought to the state's Public Utilities Commission before it goes through the courts.
In a unanimous decision, the seven justices ruled that Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court currently lacks jurisdiction over the case. Rather, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio must first conduct an investigation to see if Dominion violated regulations by shutting the woman's gas off.
The matter stems from January of 2022, when 81-year-old Virginia Vigrass was found dead in her home on Cohasset Avenue. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner ruled she died of hypothermia, having been frozen to the floor after her pipes burst and water flooded the house and iced over.
Vigrass' estate soon filed a lawsuit against Dominion (doing business as East Ohio Gas Company) claiming negligence, alleging that although Virginia did not allow inspectors into her home due to health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, she did send the company letters that fell on deaf ears. Nearly three weeks before her death, Dominion disconnected Vigrass' gas services, even though all of her bills had been paid. This led to the pipes freezing and splitting open.
Dominion filed a motion to dismiss the case due to lack of standing, but Judge Peter J. Corrigan denied their claims. However, the company then sought relief from the State Supreme Court against Corrigan, which was granted on Friday.
"We need not resolve the merits of whether Dominion conducted a lawful shutoff — that is a merits question left for resolution by the (utilities) commission," the justices wrote. "The narrow question here is whether, as a general matter, the act of shutting off service is one normally authorized by a utility. As we explained above, the caselaw, Ohio's statutory and regulatory law, and Dominion's tariff all establish that it is."
Despite the pause, the court did leave the door open for the lawsuit to proceed if PUCO finds Dominion to be at fault. 3News has reached out to the commission for comment on the status of any investigation.
Dominion has asserted it cut Vigrass' services because of her unwillingness to let workers inspect her meters, as is required by Ohio and U.S. law. While Vigrass' estate claimed she wrote letters to the company, the exact content of those letters remains unknown.
