Two legal disputes that have gone on for years and together cost the city of Dover more than one million dollars in legal expenses are continuing.
Dover has been fighting the Dover Chemical Company in court since 2021 and former Mayor Richard Homrighausen since 2022. In both cases, the city started as a defendant before countersuing. Appeals in both cases are ongoing.
Dover Mayor Shane Gunnoe says the city will continue to defend itself.
Dover Chemical in April won its 1.1-million-dollar lawsuit against the city over a punitive electric surcharge. Dover appealed. The Fifth District Court of Appeals this month emphatically sided with Dover Chemical, calling Dover’s surcharge arbitrary, unjust and unconstitutional. It also handed Dover a second loss, sending the case back to Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court where Dover Chemical can pursue additional monetary damages from the city.
In the Homrighausen case, the city last year won a six-figure countersuit against the disgraced former mayor over suspension pay and wedding payments he pocketed. It held up in the local appeals court. However, Homighausen attorneys this week notified the lower court of their intention to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
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