Redeem now - A man in Arkansas is suing over a $50 deposit he says never got back from Duke Energy.
- He questioned in the federal suit whether the utility company violated his Fourteenth Amendment right.
- He's requesting the amount he would have made if he had invested the security deposit.
A man from Arkansas is seeking arbitration in federal court over a $50 deposit he says his utility company never gave back.
Harvey William Hugunin claimed in his complaint signed September 19 that Duke Energy owes him not just his check — but the amount he would have gotten if it was invested in the stock market, according to the document, first reported on by Seamus Hughes' CourtWatch newsletter.
Hugunin said his $50 deposit has been held onto since December 26, 2016. He did not specify what the deposit was for, only saying in the suit that he hadn't gotten it back after eight years.
The complaint asks for a federal judge to weigh in on the matter. In his statement of claim, he requests the judge to negotiate a settlement with Duke Energy.
"If the security deposit of fifty dollars ($50.00) being held by defendant, Duke Energy, Inc. was invested in December of 2016 and traded through the US stock market daily in the best performing stocks, what would the present value of the fifth dollar ($50.00 investment be worth today?" Hugunin wrote.
In December 2016, if Hugunin had invested the check in SPY, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500, the $50 investment could have grown to roughly $95 today, before taxes, based on historical data.
The lawsuit cites the 14th Amendment, which guarantees all people born in the US equal protection under the legal system.
Hugunin did not list an attorney on the complaint, but this isn't his first time filing a lawsuit.
He's filed at least a dozen complaints against banks, city officials, and even a duplicate complaint against Duke Energy on the same grounds. All but four of the lawsuits have been dismissed.
Despite Hugunin's penchant for lawsuits, customers have been having issues with energy companies in cases of extreme weather, and during pandemic-era shutoffs.
Customer frustrations with utility companies likely increased during the pandemic, a period where several major companies secured bailouts, and splashed the cash for CEO bonuses, but shut off service for customers across the US.
According to Gizmodo, Duke Energy was one of six companies responsible for 94% of shutoffs between 2020 and 2021.
Duke Energy did not respond to Insider's request for comment via a media hotline.
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