CHARLESTON – An Ohio woman says the West Virginia Parkways Authority is charging unlawful administrative fees to people who don’t pay tolls while driving on the West Virginia Turnpike.
Blazine Monaco of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, filed her potential class-action complaint in federal court against the authority.
According to her complaint, Monaco drove through West Virginia on September 7, 2018, and again two days later. Each day, she encountered cash only tolls on the Turnpike. She did not have cash and was not able to pay with a debit or credit card because electronic forms of payment are not accepted at Turnpike toll booths.
The following month, Monaco says she received an Unpaid Toll Violation Notice in the mail from the Parkways Authority. It said failure to pay the tolls and related charges could result in a misdemeanor.
The notice says Monaco owed $8 for the four unpaid tolls of $2 each. In addition, she was assessed four $30 administrative fees and a $10 notice fee. Fearing being charged with a misdemeanor, she paid the $138 in tolls and fees.
Monaco says the administrative and notice fees are not authorized by rule as required by law, and she says the Parkways Authority has been unjustly enriched by collecting them from her.
She claims the authority was required to set administrative fees by promulgating a rule but did not do so.
In response, the authority says the complaint should be dismissed. It says the potential class could result in more than $5 million having to be repaid to class members, and it says the authority is funded by public money such as toll revenues to finance and support state road projects and operations.
Monaco seeks to have all of the administrative and notice fees returned to her as well as any other relief.
She is being represented by Stephen G. Skinner of the Skinner Law Firm in Charles Town as well as Nicole T. Fiorelli, Patrick J. Perotti and Frank A. Bartela of Dworken & Bernstein Co. in Painesville, Ohio. The authority is being represented by Stuart A. McMillan and Peter G. Markham of Bowles Rice in Charleston. The case has been assigned District Judge Joseph Goodwin.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:20-cv-00517
