BECKLEY — Property owners of a Wyoming County mote are suing a cable company, alleging breach of contract.
Bailey Mullins Cow Shed Motel, Motel Bailey Mullins, Chris Mullins, et al. filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Beckley Division against Shentel Cable Communications LLC, alleging unlawfully threatening to cut cable service.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege they could suffer irreparable injury to their motel business as a result of defendant's demand for immediate payment of an accumulated bill. The suit says Shentel Cable misled the plaintiffs into believing that the cable service to the motel was free of charge as part of the lease agreement, and, otherwise, threatened to disconnect cable services, knowing the action will destroy the plaintiffs' business.
The plaintiffs allege Shentel Cable Communications failed to demand payment during the plaintiffs' tenancy, making the plaintiffs believe that the issue was resolved in their favor, advised the plaintiffs to ignore the bills they were receiving and not to worry about them as they are system-generated. The suit alleges this allowed the debt to mount up for years and unfairly seeking repayment immediately, and left $50,000 worth of damages to the building Shentel rented from plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs seek trial by jury, $50,000 for damages to their building, injunctive relief, and attorney fees. They are represented by attorney Timothy P. Lupardus of Lupardus Law Office in Pineville.
The case was removed from Wyoming Circuit Court to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 18-cv-01211