"johac" <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jhachmann-CA8EAE.15521403052007@news.giganews.com...

In article <68bk331nt3cmqkb5g8f6uelcaec1p9gmua@4ax.com>,
stoney <stoney@the.net> wrote:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18471265/GT1/9951/

Judge: Cleaner owes me $65 million for pants

2 years of litigation x 1 pair of trousers = headaches for family
business

Updated: 2:22 p.m. ET May 3, 2007

WASHINGTON -{AP} The Chungs, immigrants from South Korea, realized their
American dream when they opened their dry-cleaning business seven years
ago in the nation's capital.

For the past two years, however, they've been dealing with the nightmare
of litigation: a $65 million lawsuit over a pair of missing pants.

Jin Nam Chung, Ki Chung and their son, Soo Chung, are so disheartened
that they're considering moving back to Seoul, said their attorney,
Chris Manning, who spoke on their behalf.

"They're out a lot of money, but more importantly, incredibly
disenchanted with the system," Manning said. "This has destroyed their
lives."

The lawsuit was filed by a District of Columbia administrative hearings
judge, Roy Pearson, who has been representing himself in the case.

Pearson said he could not comment on the case.

According to court documents, the problem began in May 2005 when Pearson
became a judge and brought several suits for alteration to Custom
Cleaners in Northeast Washington, a place he patronized regularly
despite previous disagreements with the Chungs. A pair of pants from one
suit was not ready when he requested it two days later, and was deemed
to be missing.

Pearson asked the cleaners for the full price of the suit: more than
$1,000.

But a week later, the Chungs said the pants had been found and refused
to pay. That's when Pearson decided to sue.

Three settlement offers
Manning said the cleaners made three settlement offers to Pearson. First
they offered $3,000, then $4,600, then $12,000. But Pearson wasn't
satisfied and expanded his calculations beyond one pair of pants.

Because Pearson no longer wanted to use his neighborhood dry cleaner,
part of his lawsuit calls for $15,000 — the price to rent a car every
weekend for 10 years to go to another business.

"He's somehow purporting that he has a constitutional right to a dry
cleaner within four blocks of his apartment," Manning said.

But the bulk of the $65 million comes from Pearson's strict
interpretation of D.C.'s consumer protection law, which fines violators
$1,500 per violation, per day. According to court papers, Pearson added
up 12 violations over 1,200 days, and then multiplied that by three
defendants.

Much of Pearson's case rests on two signs that Custom Cleaners once had
on its walls: "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Same Day Service."

Judge alleges fraud
Based on Pearson's dissatisfaction and the delay in getting back the
pants, he claims the signs amount to fraud.

Pearson has appointed himself to represent all customers affected by
such signs, though D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz, who will hear
the June 11 trial, has said that this is a case about one plaintiff, and
one pair of pants.

Sherman Joyce, president of the American Tort Association, has written a
letter to the group of men who will decide this week whether to renew
Pearson's 10-year appointment. Joyce is asking them to reconsider.

Chief Administrative Judge Tyrone Butler had no comment regarding
Pearson's reappointment.

The association, which tries to police the kind of abusive lawsuits that
hurt small businesses, also has offered to buy Pearson the suit of his
choice.

Support for the defendants
And former National Labor Relations Board chief administrative law judge
Melvin Welles wrote to The Washington Post to urge "any bar to which Mr.
Pearson belongs to immediately disbar him and the District to remove him
from his position as an administrative law judge."

"There has been a significant groundswell of support for the Chungs,"
said Manning, adding that plans for a defense fund Web site are in the
works.

To the Chungs and their attorney, one of the most frustrating aspects of
the case is their claim that Pearson's gray pants were found a week
after Pearson dropped them off in 2005. They've been hanging in
Manning's office for more than a year.

Pearson claims in court documents that his pants had blue and red
pinstripes.

"They match his inseam measurements. The ticket on the pants match his
receipt," Manning said.

It is asinine. All it proves that even an ***** can become a judge.

I wonder if it has anything to do with their being
South Koreans.

That judge is so bonkers that
other judges and lawyers are trying to take
away his judgeship and get him disbarred, as
the article points out.

"johac" <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jhachmann-CA8EAE.15521403052007@news.giganews.com...

In article <68bk331nt3cmqkb5g8f6uelcaec1p9gmua@4ax.com>,
stoney <stoney@the.net> wrote:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18471265/GT1/9951/

Judge: Cleaner owes me $65 million for pants

2 years of litigation x 1 pair of trousers = headaches for family
business

To the Chungs and their attorney, one of the most frustrating aspects of
the case is their claim that Pearson's gray pants were found a week
after Pearson dropped them off in 2005. They've been hanging in
Manning's office for more than a year.

Pearson claims in court documents that his pants had blue and red
pinstripes.

"They match his inseam measurements. The ticket on the pants match his
receipt," Manning said.

It is asinine. All it proves that even an ***** can become a judge.

I wonder if it has anything to do with their being
South Koreans. That judge is so bonkers that
other judges and lawyers are trying to take
away his judgeship and get him disbarred, as
the article points out.