November 14, 2007
You Give Tort A Bad Name
In case you missed it, the $54 million pants judge, Roy Pearson, is no longer sitting on the D.C. bench.
According to AP, the D.C. Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges decided last month not to reappoint Pearson, whose term had already expired. Pearson came into national notoriety when he sued a mom-and-pop dry-cleaning business for millions over a pair of missing trousers. Following a particularly emotional (for him) day of testimony last summer, Pearson "had to leave the courtroom with tears running down his face... after recalling the lost pair of trousers," the Washington Post reported.
Instead of damages, Pearson was gifted with the scorn and ridicule of the legal community. Pearson was informed that he was out of a job last month, but not, sources told the Post, because of the pants lawsuit. Rather, following a review of Pearson's on-the-bench performance, a committee concluded that Pearson "did not demonstrate 'appropriate judgment and judicial temperament.'"
The judge presiding over Pearson's megabucks lawsuit apparently agreed, and in June not only ruled against Pearson but ordered him to repay the defendants' clerical fees. Pearson is appealing.
As for the dry-cleaning couple, Korean immigrants Soo Chung and husband Jin Nam Chung were forced to sell their business in September, citing the exhausting two-year ordeal. One of the lowlights: Pearson posted fliers attacking their business all over the neighborhood, after which the couple saw business drop.
"It affected us financially, and we couldn't take it anymore," Soo Chung says in next month's Kiplinger's Personal Finance. "But I am grateful for the support we have received and am glad to know that there are good people out there. I want life to go back to normal."
Photo credit: Daniel Zimmel
Posted at 4:15 PM
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