Chad Buchanan/Getty ImagesAll was not quiet on the Casey Kasem homefront even before his children told the media that their stepmom isn't letting them see their ailing dad.
The radio legend and his wife, Jean Kasem, sued the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power last month, accusing the municipal agency of overcharging them since 1989, when they "entered into oral and written contracts with the Defendant." (Meaning, when they signed their L.A. home up for electricity, water and sewer service, the standard utilities provided by the LADWP.)
Per court documents filed Sept. 3 and obtained by E! News, the Kasems' lawsuit alleges that they were notified in November 2012 that they had been paying sewage costs for both of the water meters on their "very large, landscaped lot."
The suit states that they filed a claim on Jan. 11 to try to get back what they believe to be the surplus money they've been shelling out for the last 24 years due to incorrect billing, but the LADWP denied their claim on March 5, in writing.
So now the Kasems are suing for breach of written and oral contract, fraudulent misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation in the form of overbilling. They claim that they agreed to pay the amounts listed on correct invoices—not the amounts stipulated due to human error.
News of the lawsuit comes in the wake of allegations made by Kasem's three grown children from a previous marriage that Jean, their stepmother, has been refusing to give them access to their father, either by not taking their calls or telling them to go away when they try to visit.
Kasem's brother, Mouner Kasem, also told L.A.'s ABC7 that he had a feeling that he might not see Casey again, and that's why he was speaking out.
"We don't want to see him go and not say goodbye and not love him and not support him," said daughter Kerri Kasem. "We don't know how long he has."
The younger Kasems say their 81-year-old dad is in deteriorating health due to Parkinson's disease.
—Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum