Oy.

Reuters:

Judge presses $54 million suit for lost pants
By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A judge in Washington pressed a $54 million lawsuit Tuesday against a dry cleaning shop which he said violated consumer-protection laws when it lost his pants.

Roy L. Pearson, an administrative judge for the District of Columbia, told a local court that Custom Cleaners should pay the sum because a “satisfaction guaranteed” sign deceived consumers who, like him, were dissatisfied with their experience.

“You will search the records of the District of Columbia courts in vain for a case of more egregious or willful misconduct,” Pearson told D.C. Judge Judith Bartnoff.

The lawyer for the Korean immigrants who run the dry cleaner said Pearson was looking for a way to resolve his financial difficulties after a divorce.

“It’s simply a frivolous lawsuit brought by an unhappy customer with a bone to pick,” attorney Chris Manning said.

Pearson filed suit after the cleaners lost his pants in 2005. Jin Chung, Soo Chung and Ki Chung said they located the pants a few days later, but Pearson said they were not his.

Pearson counted 12 separate violations of a consumer-protection law over 1,200 days, multiplied by the three defendants. At $1,500 per day, that is $65 million.

He also seeks $15,000 to rent a car to take his clothes to another cleaner for the next 10 years, among other charges.

He has rejected several settlement offers.

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Not only that, part of Pearson’s request for damages includes $500,000 for emotional suffering.

This isn’t the first frivolous case Pearson has brought: the Virginia Court of Appeals, reviewing his divorce proceedings 2005, upheld findings that he created “unnecessary litigation” and was responsible for “excessive driving up” of legal costs.

His continuing as a judge is currently being considered by a disciplinary panel.