Atty. Marc Dann responds to BLS in class-action lawsuit

By Samantha Phillips | October 20, 2018 at 12:07a.m.

GIRARD

Atty. Marc Dann argued in a court document Blue Line Solution’s claim it doesn’t issue citations to speeding drivers is invalid because court documents show BLS cashes checks from drivers and provides customer service regarding the citations.

BLS is the Tennessee-based speed-camera company that operates the cameras for Girard and a handful of other municipalities in the Mahoning Valley.

Dann’s arguments, filed in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court this week, were in response to Blue Line’s motion to dismiss a class-action suit filed against the company last month.

The company claimed it should not be included in Dann’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of six drivers, because “the city issued the citations, not BLS.”

The litigation against the city and Blue Line revolves around the contested speed limit on a portion of Interstate 80 between Dec. 7, 2017, and Jan. 8, 2018, after construction ended. The city enforced the temporary reduced speed limit, and Dann contends people who were driving at the normal speed limit were wrongfully issued citations.

In Dann’s response, he called Blue Line’s dispute over which entity issued the citations “an evasive argument.”

Attached to the documents were excerpts from the website www.violationpayment.net, which allows drivers to pay their speeding citations. A section on the website states, “All transactions are processed by Blue Line Solutions, located in Athens, Tenn., on behalf of governmental agencies.”

Blue Line argued last month that Girard’s logo and contact information were on the citations, not the company’s information.

But a check from a driver paying her citation had Blue Line’s stamp on the back, and it was attached to the court documents.

The Vindicator’s calls to Blue Line and Robert Yallech of Youngstown-based Reminger Co., who is serving as legal counsel for the company, were not returned Friday.

The documents also pointed out that Blue Line “generates, mails, collects and provides customer services relating to the citations on behalf of the city of Girard.”

“It is disingenuous for BLS to even attempt to argue or suggest that it was not involved in this revenue-generating scheme,” Dann’s response stated.

In last month’s motion to dismiss, BLS responded to a section of the lawsuit’s complaint that claimed Girard and BLS formed a conspiracy to collect the tickets by saying BLS didn’t collect the money.

Dann maintained, however, “The city of Girard and BLS formed a conspiracy by combining the city of Girard’s status as a governmental entity with BLS’ technology and logistics to issue the improper citations.”

Girard filed its motion to dismiss the suit in August. Attorneys with the Cleveland-based firm Sutter O’Connell Co. working as legal counsel for the city argued Dann’s claims had no legal basis. City Law Director Brian Kren said the Ohio Department of Transportation didn’t take down the reduced-speed signs until a month after construction ended, so he believes the city enforcing the lower llimit with speed cameras was legitimate.