Dry Cleaner lawsuit - judge ruled in favour of the dry cleaner

[SunWuKong]

finally. a judge has ruled in favour of the dry cleaner.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070625/ap_on_re_us/67_million_pants

and here's a copy of the verdict:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2007/06/roy_pearson_v_custom_cleaners_3.html#more

[SunWuKong]

even BBC ran the story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6238364.stm

[kimpossible]

Flog him. Better, let's steal all his pants and slowly torture them before his very eyes. Dry 'em on high without any fabric softener anti-static sheet. Oh I will go there.

[Seraphfire]

I read that the lawyer for the Chungs implied that his legal fees were around $100,000. That is only if Mr. Pearson does not appeal.

[tripostrophe]

w00t! i hope any appeals from pearson are denied..

[mr. x]

even BBC ran the story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6238364.stm

I don't have a link but I saw a clip of the french talking about it too. I think I heard "corean" at some point

anyway, there's also been an issue about the plaintiff/judge being black, some have theorized the whole black/korean thing might have been an issue and it makes me wonder because maybe he thought it was like a class action lawsuit on behalf of all blacks wronged by koreans?

as ridiculous as that sounds, well I beg you to explain to me how he felt this lawsuit was justified in any way

[Seraphfire]

I don't have a link but I saw a clip of the french talking about it too. I think I heard "corean" at some point

anyway, there's also been an issue about the plaintiff/judge being black, some have theorized the whole black/korean thing might have been an issue and it makes me wonder because maybe he thought it was like a class action lawsuit on behalf of all blacks wronged by koreans?

as ridiculous as that sounds, well I beg you to explain to me how he felt this lawsuit was justified in any way
The Chungs had a sign that said "Satisfaction Guaranteed" which this halfwit took to its illogical extreme. That was the basis of the lawsuit.

I read one funny comment, the poster said something that he was disappointed that Pearson lost and because Pearson said he was doing it on behalf of his community, on the basis of his logic, the poster should be able to sue Pearson for $100M, LOL!

Still, how sad the Chungs had to waste $100K on this idiot.

[tripostrophe]

I don't have a link but I saw a clip of the french talking about it too. I think I heard "corean" at some point

anyway, there's also been an issue about the plaintiff/judge being black, some have theorized the whole black/korean thing might have been an issue and it makes me wonder because maybe he thought it was like a class action lawsuit on behalf of all blacks wronged by koreans?

as ridiculous as that sounds, well I beg you to explain to me how he felt this lawsuit was justified in any way

I sure hope this isn't true, because then the Chungs winning the case is just another example of the "model minority" having their interests in line with whites...lose/lose situation :(

[lethal]

The judge in the case may decide to make Judge Pearson pay the Chungs' attorneys fees.

[yoMAMA]

more on those pants:


Judge Who Seeks Millions for Lost Pants Has His (Emotional) Day in Court
By Marc Fisher
Wednesday, June 13, 2007; B01

Before trial began yesterday in the case of the D.C. judge who sued his neighborhood dry cleaners after they lost his pants, the most extraordinary fact was Roy Pearson's demand for $65 million in damages.

That was before Pearson, an administrative law judge, broke down while testifying about the emotional pain of having the cleaners give him the wrong pants. It was before an 89-year-old woman in a wheelchair told of being chased out of the cleaners by an angry owner. And it was before she compared the owners of Custom Cleaners in open court to Nazis.

"I knew it: It's all my fault," said the reporter from German television who was sitting next to me.

The global import of Pearson v. Custom Cleaners was evident from the start. The courtroom was packed with members of the Korean Dry Cleaners Association and reporters from print and broadcast outlets in at least five countries. The guy from the tort reform lobby handed out bright green buttons protesting the $65 million "pantsuit." The gent from Fox TV sported neon-color paisley pants.

And Pearson, who by his account has spent more than 1,400 hours preparing his case, arrived in a black pinstripe suit. I hope he won't sue me if I mention that the pants could have used a pressing.

"Never before in recorded history have a group of defendants engaged in such misleading and unfair business practices," Pearson said in his opening statement. You don't get a lot of firsts in recorded history in D.C. Superior Court, though I should add that Marion Barry was in the building for his day in traffic court, and the pants suit easily outdrew the ex-mayor-for-life.

The "willful and malicious conduct" Pearson described consisted of this: In 2005, Pearson was starting his new job as a judge and therefore needed to start wearing suits again after a couple of years of unemployment. He brought five suits in for alterations because he'd put on 20 pounds and needed to have the pants let out. Four suits came back fine. One came back without the pants.

Pearson says the Chung family -- Korean immigrants who came here from the charcoal factories of Seoul in 1992 and now own three cleaners, including the one a short walk from Pearson's place in the Fort Lincoln section of Northeast -- had no intention of living up to the sign in their shop that said "Satisfaction Guaranteed." Therefore, Pearson said, he had no choice but to take on "the awesome responsibility" of suing the Chungs on behalf of every resident of the District of Columbia.

Judge Judith Bartnoff went to remarkable lengths to try to keep Pearson moving along while disabusing him of the notion that he represented either the tens of thousands of people who have used Custom Cleaners or the half million people in Washington who might theoretically be at risk of being dissatisfied with the shop's service.

From the start, Pearson kept referring to himself as "we," as if he were representing everyone in town. Bartnoff was having none of it: "Mr. Pearson, you are not a 'we.' You are an 'I.' "

Defense lawyer Christopher Manning depicted Pearson as a bitter, wildly litigious man who emerged from a recent divorce with financial difficulties and who held a deep grudge against the Chungs stemming from a previous run-in. Back in 2002, after the cleaners lost another pair of his pants, Pearson was compensated with a check for $150. The Chungs then tried to ban him from their shop, but Pearson implored them to let him come back because Custom was the only cleaners within walking distance of his home, and he doesn't have a car.

Pearson presented a series of witnesses who told of unhappy experiences at Custom. Their satisfaction, they said, was hardly guaranteed. But every one of Pearson's witnesses told the defense that in fact, they would have been entirely satisfied if they had been given credit for free cleaning or compensation in the amount of the value of their damaged or lost garment. Most of the witnesses said they'd generally had good experiences at Custom, and not one of Pearson's witnesses said anything about deserving millions of dollars.

Witnesses depicted Soo Chung, the mom in the Mom and Pop operation, as someone who was pleasant and professional -- until a dispute arose, at which point she told several of the customers that it was they who had brought in damaged goods, not the shop that had caused any problem with an article of clothing.

Grace Hewell, a retired congressional staffer, said Jin Chung, Soo's husband, "chased me out of the store" when she complained that her suit pants "looked like they had been washed" and no longer fit properly. "At 89, I'm not ready to be chased," she said. "But I was in World War II as a WAC, so I think I can take care of myself. Having lived in Germany and knowing the people who were victims of the Nazis, I thought he was going to beat me up. I thought of what Hitler had done to thousands of Jews."

After questioning eight witnesses, Pearson spent two hours telling his own story, but as he came to the part about when Soo Chung finally told him she had found the missing pants, the tale of the $10.50 alteration that went awry proved to be too much.

"These are not my pants," Pearson recalled telling Chung when she handed him a pair of gray pants with cuffs. "I have in my adult life, with one exception, never worn pants with cuffs."

"And she said, 'These are your pants.' "

Pearson paused. He struggled to breathe deeply. He could not continue. Pearson blurted a request for a break, stood up, turned around and walked out of the courtroom, tears dripping from his full and reddened eyes.

When he returned, he called that moment when Chung offered him the wrong pants "a Twilight Zone experience," and again, he welled up and had to halt the proceedings. Pearson wanted to submit the remainder of his testimony in writing, but Judge Bartnoff wouldn't hear of it.

The trial is expected to end today. Pearson has reduced his claim to $54 million. But he told the judge that he also wants to be awarded attorney's fees, even though he represents himself. He would like to be paid at a rate of between $390 and $425 an hour.

Earlier in the day, Pearson called his 30-year-old son as a witness. The son testified that he was surprised that his father had filed this suit. "I know you don't like litigation at all," he said.

E-mail:marcfisher@washpost.com

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[applehead]

not that i'm sympathetic to this man
but was his emotional or mental stability evaluated.
reading the above article makes me think
that maybe he's got some problems.
crying over pants?

[mr. x]

not that i'm sympathetic to this man
but was his emotional or mental stability evaluated.
reading the above article makes me think
that maybe he's got some problems.
crying over pants?

nonsense, he's a judge. A JUDGE

[s1eve]

Good news. I really hope the Chungs get compensated beyond the legal fees.

And hiya meena, kim and the rest of you lot! Life been keeping me busy, will drop by when i can. :)

[Sven]

Boy you guys are your "race baiting".

I don't see how race even came into this even if so it would be more of a black/white thing, integration catching up with us (that sense of entitlement?) but that’s for elsewhere. They even made a settlement ($1,500 dollars or so?) and his dumbass refused. Glad he lost though.

[SunWuKong]

Boy you guys are your "race baiting".

I don't see how race even came into this even if so it would be more of a black/white thing, integration catching up with us (that sense of entitlement?) but that’s for elsewhere. They even made a settlement ($1,500 dollars or so?) and his dumbass refused. Glad he lost though.

who's race baiting?

[kasia]

nonsense, he's a judge. A JUDGE

you say that like it means something.

[mr. x]

Boy you guys are your "race baiting".

I don't see how race even came into this even if so it would be more of a black/white thing, integration catching up with us (that sense of entitlement?) but that’s for elsewhere. They even made a settlement ($1,500 dollars or so?) and his dumbass refused. Glad he lost though.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/06/dcs_blackkorean_dynamic_a_simm.html?hpid=news-col-blogs

You tell me why else he would think such a high amount was warranted unless he felt he doing it on behalf of "his people"

other than you know, him being batshit insane

and again, I don't have an issue with you disagreeing with me but looking at your post history you clearly have it out for us "yellow supremacists" so I'm not sure why I'm even bothering

[pikachupacabra]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/06/dcs_blackkorean_dynamic_a_simm.html?hpid=news-col-blogs

You tell me why else he would think such a high amount was warranted unless he felt he doing it on behalf of "his people"

other than you know, him being batshit insane

and again, I don't have an issue with you disagreeing with me but looking at your post history you clearly have it out for us "yellow supremacists" so I'm not sure why I'm even bothering

Those comments at the end are pretty funny

[Sven]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/06/dcs_blackkorean_dynamic_a_simm.html?hpid=news-col-blogs

You tell me why else he would think such a high amount was warranted unless he felt he doing it on behalf of "his people"

other than you know, him being batshit insane

and again, I don't have an issue with you disagreeing with me but looking at your post history you clearly have it out for us "yellow supremacists" so I'm not sure why I'm even bothering

Uhh no my original post was being sarcastic at some people’s use here of "race baiting" (yonama?) that's why I put it in quotes? And I'm still at lost how this equals out for him to doing to it for "his people".

I see a large sense of entitlement but I don't see "I'm doing this for my people", yes there's tension but no there was nothing to indicate that this was about their race but I do see the first. Where he was crying when he lost, he seriously expected to win. Not only that he rejected the settlement as well believing he deserved more.

And I have it out for yellow supremacist? What?

[tripostrophe]

nonsense, he's a judge. A JUDGE

well, you know what they say...you can't JUDGE a book by its cover!

[tripostrophe]

Yo mama was race baiting? What? I thought she was *explicit sexual reference here* j/k :wink:

But really I don't see race-baiting on the part of YWers...mr. x just brought up the possible racial dynamics in this case is all. Possible.

[Sven]

Yo mama was race baiting? What? I thought she was *explicit sexual reference here* j/k :wink:

But really I don't see race-baiting on the part of YWers...mr. x just brought up the possible racial dynamics in this case is all. Possible.

As many times I heard people say the "race card" here I'd expect it not to be much of a suprise! But anyway I wasn't saying anyone was actually race-baiting I was joking.

[tripostrophe]

As many times I heard people say the "race card" here I'd expect it not to be much of a suprise! But anyway I wasn't saying anyone was actually race-baiting I was joking.

Really? I can't recall ever seeing anyone talking about somebody pulling the "race card"...wouldn't expect it from the core members, but *shrugs*

[kimpossible]

I side with the theory that Pearson is nuttier than squirrel shit.

[Dimeron]

I side with the theory that Pearson is nuttier than squirrel shit.

Agreed, you are not really a racist if you are just an asshole to everyone. regardless the colour of their skin.

[mr. x]

Agreed, you are not really a racist if you are just an asshole to everyone. regardless the colour of their skin.

And one of the commentors in the article mentions she too has been treated rudely by korean cleaners, but makes a note that she is white so is more of a cultural thing than a black hate thing.

[applehead]

my mom's been reading in her korean newspaper
that they're so upset and so disheartened about this
whole incident, they don't even want to live in the states anymore.
i can totally understand how they feel.

hi steve!! we all miss you here!!!

[deez nuts]

and again, I don't have an issue with you disagreeing with me but looking at your post history you clearly have it out for us "yellow supremacists" so I'm not sure why I'm even bothering

should i ban him and make him play the race card and cry racism? it'll be fun.

[CARDINAL009]

Sometimes, the good guys wins. Sometimes the bad guys wins. At the end, justice prevails.

[Dimeron]

Sometimes, the good guys wins. Sometimes the bad guys wins. At the end, justice prevails.

I think it is more in the case of if you severally lack common sense, you will lose.

He could have sued for a much lower amount, drag the case out, don't get too much publicity, and drain every penny the Chung got.

Instead he had to go for millions and make himself look like a moron to the entire country.

[snailpoo]

I think it is more in the case of if you severally lack common sense, you will lose.

He could have sued for a much lower amount, drag the case out, don't get too much publicity, and drain every penny the Chung got.

Instead he had to go for millions and make himself look like a moron to the entire country.

Apparently the guy also turned down settlement offers of $3,000, $4,600 and $12,000. (http://www.manning-sossamon.com/pantfacts.htm)

[yoMAMA]

Apparently the guy also turned down settlement offers of $3,000, $4,600 and $12,000. (http://www.manning-sossamon.com/pantfacts.htm)

and he cried, TWICE! in the court room, when he described his pants....

this guy really love his pants.

[SunWuKong]

what the hell is wrong with this guy that he thought he could win a $54 million lawsuit for a pair of pants?

[kakashiLAU]

If I were the CHungs I would counter-sue this bastard for everything he has. But according to this article, the Chungs not only forgive him and accept his patronage again, they're also not seeking any compensation from the a$$ clown.

Damn it, they won't even let me post a url
http:
//english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200706/200706270018.html

Korean Cleaner Forgives Pantless Judge
A Korean-American drycleaner has forgiven a U.S. administrative judge who sued him for losing his pants after a Washington court found in favor of the immigrant. Chung Jin-nam told reporters in front of his shop on Monday that he forgave judge Roy Pearson although it was hard, and did not want Pearson to be disqualified for reemployment as an administrative judge. The drycleaner said that he would accept Pearson’s custom again and will not seek damages from the plaintiff.

[SunWuKong]

looks like it's not over.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/07/the_54_million_pants_suit_that.html

[kimpossible]

Jesus wept. I think we should help the Chungs and have a YW fundraising day. You can donate online. I'll start the thread in a bit. I hope we can all dig up a little for them. This could have been any of our families.

[yoMAMA]

unbelievable....

[SunWuKong]

even Chinese Wikipedia has an article about this lawsuit.

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9A%AE%E7%88%BE%E6%A3%AE%E8%A4%B2%E5%AD%90%E7%B 4%A2%E5%84%9F%E6%A1%88

[yoMAMA]

i hope this happens:

the chungs ask "judge roy, pantless" pearson to pay their legal fees:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070601597.html

[SunWuKong]

maybe i don't know what i'm talking about here, but i get the feeling that at this point, Pearson is basically fighting for his career. his reputation as a judge as far as the people are concerned is basically tarnished forever. but if he can win the case, at least legally and technically speaking, it won't become a barrier to his career. there are already people calling to have him disbarred.

[Faithless]

Interesting discussion about this thing called Rule 11 (http://writ.news.findlaw.com/sebok/20070703.html), which "the Chungs will move for sanctions under ..." .

[huangalex]

In 2004 Mr. Pearson was accused of corruption for giving his son's girlfriend a city job - after which it was revealed Mr. Pearson was actually sleeping with his son's girlfriend on regular occasion. During his tenure as an administrative judge for Washington DC he was accused of smoking crack cocaine in the courthouse washroom, an accusation supported by camera video that later went "missing" from the evidence room Mr. Pearson had access to himself.

-from http://www.shoutpost.com/read/witqueen/9684/suing-your-way-to-the-american-dream

I think that with that in mind, it is now appropriate to ask if he sued for $54 million because he had several dozen tonnes of crack stuffed down his pants.

[Geese]

HA! So it IS HIM! A few years back a friend I went to college with, who moved OUT of the DC area, said that there was this Black judge who had gotten Marian Barry'd, but the camera evidence disappeared!

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Maybe he just wanted to show all the other judges who wore the pants in the district.

HAHA

[moser]

Update: per the WSJ Law Blog, the Chungs are shutting down their dry cleaning business

The Chung family is sad to announce that they have closed Custom Cleaners dry cleaners due to the revenue losses and emotional toll resulting from the Pearson v. Chung lawsuit. The business has been sold. Having had to now close two of their three dry cleaning stores since the filing of the lawsuit, the Chung family is currently focused only on their Happy Cleaners store. The Chungs hope that a successful Happy Cleaners store will help them someday rebuild their businesses in the aftermath of the lawsuit.

Since immigrating to the U.S. from South Korea in 1992, the Chung family had begun to realize the American dream by saving enough money to progressively open three small dry cleaning stores. Unfortunately, [one] closed in 2006 and now the Chungs have had to close Custom Cleaners as well.

“This is a truly tragic example of how devastating frivolous litigation can be to the American people and to small businesses. This family had poured its heart and soul into their dry cleaning stores only to have their dreams crushed by Roy Pearson’s lawsuit. Even though they were resoundingly victorious at trial, the damage was basically already done to the Chungs when Mr. Pearson filed and then bafflingly continued to pursue his lawsuit.”

Roy Pearson is continuing to pursue his appeal, which should be heard by the D.C. Court of Appeals sometime next year.

WSJ Law Blog Entry (http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/09/19/breaking-your-heart-news-chungs-close-custom-cleaners/)

[Azn Retribution]

Eh.
don't you get it

HE ALREADY WON.

They had to shut down their store because of the legal fees.

It's already been established he has no money to pay their legal fees even if they win a suit.

He won't lose his license to practice law because it's a ol boys club.
hell he was about to get his old job back(inspite of the lawsuit and the APA activism) until he called his old boss names.

Please. ejecting someone from the Bar is as about as likely as congress ever agreeing on something.

Welcome to America: Home of the Broken Legal System.

[kasia]

i don't know about other states, but disbarment is not that uncommon in california. he could also get his bar license suspended for a period of time - that happens a lot. it's pretty embarassing, too, bc your name and offense gets published in the cal bar journal for all lawyers to read.

anyway, it said their store was closed due to revenue losses and emotional trauma, not because of legal fees. revenue losses probably due to the defamation of their store as a result of the lawsuit - nothing that they can really sue over since there's no real allegation that he misstated the facts. the problem was only that he overestimated the damages.

[Azn Retribution]

i don't know about other states, but disbarment is not that uncommon in california. he could also get his bar license suspended for a period of time - that happens a lot. it's pretty embarassing, too, bc your name and offense gets published in the cal bar journal for all lawyers to read.

anyway, it said their store was closed due to revenue losses and emotional trauma, not because of legal fees. revenue losses probably due to the defamation of their store as a result of the lawsuit - nothing that they can really sue over since there's no real allegation that he misstated the facts. the problem was only that he overestimated the damages.

I believe he posted flyers all over the neighborhood where that cleaner location was at. That's the main reason they lost revenue according to follow up interviews i read.
I can't speak of the content of the flyers because I don't remember what was on the images I saw. misrepresentation aside, He still won. a pyrrhic victory at best perhaps but a win is a win.


California is like a foreign country compared to the rest of the US.
This judge was about to get his seat back inspite of all the pressure from the APA community.

It wasn't until he insulted his boss that his boss rescinded his reinstatement. I actually followed the proceedings regarding that in some news blog awhile back.

[ahsingjai]

Administrative Judges aren't that high class. They are just regular people sitting in a office room taking tax cases.

I went to an appeal for my unemployment and it isn't something like a court room you see on tv. It's like going in to the principals office.

The Chungs could sue him for emotional damages and destroying their business thru a prolong case.

[Azn Retribution]

Administrative Judges aren't that high class. They are just regular people sitting in a office room taking tax cases.

I went to an appeal for my unemployment and it isn't something like a court room you see on tv. It's like going in to the principals office.

The Chungs could sue him for emotional damages and destroying their business thru a prolong case.

That doesn't excuse that he was about to get his job back for wanking the shit out of the legal system.

With what money praytell?

and what kind of damages do they expect to get out of a man who has less than 4000 in his account. (self admitted)

He won cuz he had nothing to lose, everything to gain.
They lost cuz they had everything to lose.

Our legal system allows and even caters for these situations.

ergo it's broken.

Thank you for playing.

[snailpoo]

That doesn't excuse that he was about to get his job back for wanking the shit out of the legal system.

With what money praytell?

and what kind of damages do they expect to get out of a man who has less than 4000 in his account. (self admitted)


The problem is that he's a judge (ok, he's an ALJ, but he's still a judge) and that he had a semi-valid claim (definitely not worth $54 million, but notice that Sassoman did offer settlements).

The system might have worked if 1. he had to hire a lawyer instead of representing himself, because other lawyers might not have touched it or 2. if he wasn't an ALJ, the trial judge might have just tossed it pre-trial and not feared being overturned on appeal.

Even if he is broke, doesn't bankruptcy only allow the bankruptcy judge to grant an extension of an enforcement of a judgement if the debtor shows cause and not excuse the debtor from having to pay all together?



_______________
***All of the above is pure and unreliable speculation on my part. I didn't pay much attention in the personal portion of bankruptcy class, and I know the laws have chanced since then.

[SunWuKong]

The problem is that he's a judge (ok, he's an ALJ, but he's still a judge) and that he had a semi-valid claim (definitely not worth $54 million, but notice that Sassoman did offer settlements).

yeah the complaint itself is valid, but it's the funny math that he did to arrive at the amount he was suing for that makes the case bullshit.

[applehead]

and for crying on the stand about pants.