Reason Magazine
- reason.com
- reason.tv
- reason.org
- Donate
- Site Search:
Reason on Facebook
Reason on Twitter
Reason on YouTube
Reason RSSGet Reason E-mail Updates!
Manage your Reason e-mail list subscriptionsadvertisements
Mr. Fancy Pants
Roy L. Pearson, an administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., is suing Jin and Soo Chung, the owners of a dry cleaning store, for $54 million because they misplaced the pants from a suit he had asked them to alter. He has rejected a $12,000 settlement offer. Yesterday in court, the Chungs' lawyer introduced into evidence the very pants that Pearson had tried to have returned. Pearson has refused to take them back, insisting they are a cheap knockoff of the fancy-schmancy Hickey Freeman trousers he left in the Chungs' care. Since the entire suit cost $1,150, how did Pearson arrive at the $54 million figure? He claims that under Washington's consumer protection law the Chungs "each owe $18,000 for each day over a nearly four-year period in which signs at their store promised 'Same Day Service' and 'Satisfaction Guaranteed.'"
Pearson, who cried while testifying about the trauma of losing his beloved pants, says he's doing it for the little people: all the consumers who might be deceived by the Chungs' false promises. D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff did not buy it. "You are not a we, you are an I," she told him on the first day of the trial. "You are seeking damages on your own behalf, and that is all."
|6.14.07 @ 12:50PM|#
On it's face it seems like an outrage, but who knows, maybe these Jin and Soo Chung are real pieces of shit who run their business close to the fraud line, and they finally crossed the wrong guy. I mean, there is a change that these people deserve to have their store wiped out. I'm just saying, we don't know anything about the people we're supposed to sympathize with. If they're anything like my local dry cleaner, they will invent stains that didn't exist, then hold your laundry for ransom.
|6.14.07 @ 12:53PM|#
Ah, but the same rationale is perfectly okay when directed
towards those soulless corporations, right? That'll teach these
guys to enter into business in D.C.!
Lamar,
$54 million worth of fraud? At one dry cleaner store?
|6.14.07 @ 12:55PM|#
Yep, Lamar, the bad guys are obviously the entrepreneurs and not
the judge who is so obviously a servant of the poor put upon
consumers in D.C. who are powerless to take their business
elsewhere in spite of the
"suit Nazi" Chungs' business practices.
|6.14.07 @ 12:55PM|#
If I see Judge Pearson on the street, I'm kicking him in the
balls.
And then running like hell. God knows what'll happen to me for
anything done to things inside his pants.
|6.14.07 @ 12:57PM|#
If they're anything like my local dry cleaner, they will
invent stains that didn't exist, then hold your laundry for
ransom.
Maybe change cleaners then? Unless you think Pearson needs a
sidekick.
|6.14.07 @ 12:58PM|#
Since there was no mention of the Judge having purchased another
suit, I hereby dub him:
Judge No Pants.
|6.14.07 @ 1:01PM|#
$54 million is an invented number that'll hopefully (in
Pearson's view) put them out of biz.
Creech: I didn't say people couldn't go elsewhere after getting
screwed. I'm just saying that maybe they don't deserve to stay in
business after making "screwing people over" a business model.
Hell, I'm even speculating as to that. I'm just surprised we know
nothing of the supposed victims. As for me, I can go to another dry
cleaner, but it's 15 minutes away on foot (carrying all the clothes
- it isn't an option). The assholes downstairs are the only real
option.
I think of this thing this way: If a guy steals your car, you can
do the right thing by calling the cops and waiting for them to
hopefully find your car at some point in the future. Or you can
beat the shit out of the thieves yourself and be assured of some
primitive sense of satisfaction.
norbizness|6.14.07 @ 1:03PM|#
The judge-plaintiff's rejoinder: "Me fail English? That's unpossible!"
|6.14.07 @ 1:06PM|#
Sorry that I offended the suburban car-heros who think nothing of driving a few extra blocks to go to a competing store after being screwed over. It isn't so easy in an urban setting, nor is it easy in a rural setting. The only people who get the full benefits of dry cleaner competition are suburban soccer moms and the lightweights they call their husbands. OK, that last sentence was just for fun.
|6.14.07 @ 1:08PM|#
The plaintiff has a duty to minimize losses. So basically every
day he could have picked up the pants but refused to is not going
to be allowed. So there goes 54 million.
Two, he's just stupid. He's going to get trounced. There's a good
chance the reason he is apparently representing himself is because
any non-crazy lawyer would be worried about being brought before
the ethics committee for such a frivolous damages claim. I'd put
even money on the judge ending up paying the Chungs legal bills for
filing this silly lawsuit.
|6.14.07 @ 1:09PM|#
Like we don't have enough frivolous lawsuits as it is.
As a judge, this asshat should know better. I think the suit should
be thrown out and Mr Pearson should have to pay the Chungs legal
fees.
They did, afterall, offer a $12000 settlement.
|6.14.07 @ 1:09PM|#
Todd -
You took the words right out of my comments box. Maybe they should
first tar his pants. Then the emotional trauma will just be too
great.
If I see Judge Pearson on the street, I'm kicking him in the
balls.
Bully!*
(The "boo-yeah" meaning, not insisting you're a bully)
|6.14.07 @ 1:10PM|#
To paraphrase a Chinese dry cleaning lady from an episode of Monk: "Judge Pearson, he so crazy!"
|6.14.07 @ 1:12PM|#
toxicroach: Excellent point. One of the main reasons that we have so many lawyers is because it's a very bad idea to get all emotional about your own case. Clearly Pearson doesn't care about the money ($12,000 - wow!!) and is out for blood. Who knows, maybe the Joo's deserve it, but clearly Pearson is out for his pound of flesh and won't listen to reason along the way.
Dave W.|6.14.07 @ 1:13PM|#
Geez, even Blackwater is only asking $10 million from the
surviving families of those crispy operatives.
No wonder Mr. Sullum blogged this instead of that!
|6.14.07 @ 1:14PM|#
Sorry that I offended the suburban car-heros who think
nothing of driving a few extra blocks to go to a competing store
after being screwed over. It isn't so easy in an urban setting, nor
is it easy in a rural setting.
What, they don't have taxis or buses where you live?
Look Lamar, if you have a hard-on to get even with a shitty dry
cleaner, I don't think anyone can fault you. Just don't whine to us
how hard it is to do even the most minimal thing to remedy the
situation and then keep going back for more. Heal thyself.
My cleaner, owned by Koreans natch, does a great job on my stuff
and even gives me a discount since I kept going to them after I
moved a couple miles away.
|6.14.07 @ 1:17PM|#
I didn't say people couldn't go elsewhere after getting
screwed. I'm just saying that maybe they don't deserve to stay in
business after making "screwing people over" a business model.
Hell, I'm even speculating as to that. I'm just surprised we know
nothing of the supposed victims.
We know enough that Pearson had a hard time finding disgruntled
patrons and we also know they are good enough to have three stores
running. In a field as crowded as dry cleaning, if you regularly
rip people off, you won't stay in business. That's the way things
work, not a rogue lawyer levelling retribution by abusive
lawsuit.
|6.14.07 @ 1:18PM|#
I had a business lose my pants. The bartender was totally unreasonable and insisted I'd taken them off myself and thrown them into the crowd. I'm still dealing with the trauma of walking home drunk and pantsless.
highnumber|6.14.07 @ 1:18PM|#
Geez, Lamar, I live in an urban suburb* and I can throw stones
in three directions and hit 10 cleaners. I think you could make it
to another cleaners with little hassle if it were really worth it
to you.
*Sounds stupid, but it's an accurate description of the town I live
in. I'm closer to downtown than people in some parts of the city, I
can walk to the el, suburbanites think it's the city, city folk
think it's the burbs - I win!
Jennifer|6.14.07 @ 1:19PM|#
I can go to another dry cleaner, but it's 15 minutes away on
foot (carrying all the clothes - it isn't an option).
If, as you say, your dry cleaner is a dishonest person who'll do
things like charge you for stains that don't exist and later hold
your laundry hostage until you pay, wouldn't you save hassle AND
money by investing in a taxi ride to the next nearest dry cleaning
establishment?
|6.14.07 @ 1:19PM|#
"What, they don't have taxis or buses where you
live?"
Spending $10 for $30 of dry cleaning isn't on my priority list, and
the buses are so few and far between these days (see my previous
rants on the MTA) that it could take an hour just to drop off dry
cleaning and an hour to pick it up. Anyhow, I suggest a different,
equally embarassing, method to punish local businesses that screw
people over. Glue their doors shut.
|6.14.07 @ 1:19PM|#
As for me, I can go to another dry cleaner, but it's 15
minutes away on foot (carrying all the clothes - it isn't an
option). The assholes downstairs are the only real
option.
No, the assholes downstairs aren't the only option. Take a $5 taxi
ride, and go to the cleaners that are a 15 minute walk away. The
taxi ride is probably cheaper than you getting screwed over at a
cleaners.
You can't be bothered to spend the extra 5 or 10 minutes of time it
would take to go somewhere else, period. You are simply too
lazy.
I think of this thing this way: If a guy steals your car, you
can do the right thing by calling the cops and waiting for them to
hopefully find your car at some point in the future. Or you can
beat the shit out of the thieves yourself and be assured of some
primitive sense of satisfaction.
If the plaintiff punched the dry cleaner in the face, maybe I would
have a little sympathy. But, unlike your bad analogy, the judge
didn't do any action that would have involved any personal risk or
was the product of a momentary emotional outburst. Instead he
decided to harrass people out of buisness, knowing he is a
Washington DC judge and that he can pull strings to win the
case.
|6.14.07 @ 1:20PM|#
I can't envision any circumstance in which a single case of lost
pants, and that is 100% of what is being charged here, should ever
be a cause to employ the legal system to destroy a business.
If you can prove a pattern, then prove it. If not, take your
frikkin pants back and STFU.
Keith|6.14.07 @ 1:21PM|#
Sorry that I offended the suburban car-heros who think
nothing of driving a few extra blocks to go to a competing store
after being screwed over. It isn't so easy in an urban setting, nor
is it easy in a rural setting.
Yes, true. In my urban setting of New York City, it is practically
impossible to find more than one dry cleaner per block. It is
outrageous to think that I would be able to just up and go to a
different when so few are around and getting to them is so far.
Jennifer|6.14.07 @ 1:22PM|#
Anyhow, I suggest a different, equally embarassing, method
to punish local businesses that screw people over. Glue their doors
shut.
That is deservedly illegal, and if you pull a stunt like that
you'll be the one facing charges and damage costs.
|6.14.07 @ 1:22PM|#
I can't believe what I'm seeing here. I thought choice was the reason you were supposed to choose urban or new urban living? I have 10 cleaners within 15 minutes of me here in suburbia.
VM|6.14.07 @ 1:25PM|#
EXCEPT THE HIGHNUMBER NEGLECTS TO GIVE THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT OF
INFORMATION. 630.
[keed keed]
hier is Lamar's rap.
It's pretty cool! You can see from his cool threads that the
correct cleaner is very important to him!
Jennifer|6.14.07 @ 1:25PM|#
I thought choice was the reason you were supposed to choose
urban or new urban living? I have 10 cleaners within 15 minutes of
me here in suburbia.
No, it's "choice within super-easy walking distance, sans reliance
on a taxi or bus."
|6.14.07 @ 1:26PM|#
Lamar, I live right in Dallas (over by White Rock Lake). I couldn't even count the number of dry cleaners that are equally convenient to me.
VM|6.14.07 @ 1:34PM|#
Maybe there are some fashions (hier)
that need the special cleaner that isn't down the street across the
block and with a backpack that's got jets!
(photo credit: from URKOBOLD's and Mr. Steven Crane most recent
holiday snaps)
"could be. could be taken on a holiday."
Jennifer|6.14.07 @ 1:35PM|#
Incidentally, Lamar, if this corrupt dry cleaner of yours went out of business, wouldn't you be forced to go to the next-nearest one anyway?
PapayaSF|6.14.07 @ 1:36PM|#
When I first told this story to my girlfriend, who spent many years in the legal field, she asked: "Is he an administrative law judge?" And he is! She says that being the lowest order of judges, they often suffer from short man/Napoleon complexes.
highnumber|6.14.07 @ 1:36PM|#
Actually, VM, we're old school: 708
630 is way out there. DuPage. Gawd, that's far.
How's the lake today?
Did you hear that ProGLib is threatening that the South shall rise
again, and drain the lake?
|6.14.07 @ 1:38PM|#
Yes, but we will also return Chicago to the 312-708 dichotomy
that is your God-given right.
Friggin' 708ers--bleah.
VM|6.14.07 @ 1:39PM|#
"Long distance information
ring me 608
laughter on the other end"
ProGLib is sadly mistaken. For vee have already drained zee lake.
und filld it up again.
[bohahahahahahahaha]
Und zee lake is rather lovely today. Ja ja. but it iz hazy
outschide, zo, not az beautiful az ozer daze.
*brays happily. ambles off
Judge Dreaded|6.14.07 @ 1:42PM|#
Pearson is not a moron. He is truly an evil person. He is smart
enough to go to law school and practice law. He knows the cleaner
does not have that kind of money. That means what he really wants
to do is to put the cleaner through hardship and possibly ruin them
altogether. If he gets some money out of it in the process, great.
If not, no harm done since he represented himself and did not spend
any money on lawyers.
Even if the cleaner lost his pants or treated him poorly as a
customer, they didn't ruin Pearson's livelihood. That's what
Pearson's doing to the family that owns the business. Pearson is a
human garbage.
|6.14.07 @ 1:42PM|#
Another reason we need the government to provide dry cleaning and laundry for all American
Dave W.|6.14.07 @ 1:43PM|#
I used to get my dry cleaning done by White Rock Lake. I didn't
even live near there. They do have a lot of dry cleaners.
I wonder whether the $12,000 settlement offer was made
strategically to get or avoid attorney fee shifting.
|6.14.07 @ 1:44PM|#
I was using the "glue the doors shut" as an analogy to Pearson's
irrational behavior. Listen folks, my life may suck, but I have to
leave work early whenever I have to pick up dry cleaning. There are
no dry cleaners close to me because the buildings surrounding mine
are all luxury highrises with their own private laundries. Those of
you who say, "walk an extra 5 minutes" don't know what you're
talking about, and there are no $5 taxis anymore. I don't want my
dry cleaner to go out of biz for the very reason that Jennifer
noted, I'd have to walk farther. What I want to do is make it
expensive for them to act use market power to act like pieces of
crap. The sad truth is that I can't afford NYC and all the
shenanigans the local businesses pull off. And no, I wasn't serious
about self-help.
Hell, I don't even know if the Soo's acted poorly. Maybe Pearson's
got a Gatorade bottle up his ass.
|6.14.07 @ 1:47PM|#
Friggin' 708ers--bleah.
Piss off ProL!!
708-ers fucking rule!!!
I was a 630er for my HS years and then got the fuck outta dodge.
God I hate 630
As for this case, I think a fair outcome would be to grant this guy
the 1150 for the suit and make him pay the legal fees of the
Chungsin light of the very very generous 12K offer and he
refused.
|6.14.07 @ 1:50PM|#
Lamar! Throw off the shackles of the Chinese mob and buy a can
of starch! Free-DOM!
Actually, I tried that for a while. Not worth the trouble.
There is no area code but 312, if one simply must live in
Chicago.
VM|6.14.07 @ 1:52PM|#
ProGLib - as a non west loop residing 312'er, I'd just like to
say that your attitude is rather 609. Maybe mixed with a little 314
and 703. Also there's definitely some 50128 in there.
You really need to get into a 215 mode to grasp fully the
implications of 808.
highnumber|6.14.07 @ 1:56PM|#
ProGLib - as a non west loop residing 312'er
Translation: "I'm rich, bitch!"
We can all be happy that we're not 815ers.
|6.14.07 @ 1:59PM|#
VM: Great video link. Now that I'm moving from my inconvenient urban home, I can finally say, screw you 212!
VM|6.14.07 @ 2:03PM|#
URKOBOLD has newly-expanded laundry drop off service (hier),
where you're guaranteed never to see your pants again.
And if you're lucky, only your taint will get whithered.
Stephen the Goldberger|6.14.07 @ 2:05PM|#
In a civil suit, when in doubt assume both sides are assholes.
You will be right more often than not.
Lamar, whether or not he thinks they deserve to be put out of
business is irrelevent, the purpose of the legal system is to
settle disputes, not to enable one party to destroy another because
"they deserve it." If they were fraudulant then he deserves to be
compensated for his damages.
But there is no way in hell they approach 54 million dollars. He's
abusing the legal system to try and destroy another party because
he's angry they lost his pants. If that doesn't upset you then
you're a douchebag.
|6.14.07 @ 2:05PM|#
Lamar -- Let me see if I understand your POV here. You feel
you've been screwed over by a particular dry cleaner. You feel it's
too inconvenient to drive a few blocks further to a different dry
cleaner with more accepable business practices. So you propose
using lawyers to force the offending dry cleaners out of business
-- in which case you will have eliminated the option of patronizing
the conveniently located dry cleaner -- forcing yourself to drive a
few blocks further to a different dry cleaner.
WTF?
|6.14.07 @ 2:11PM|#
To those that suggest that it is easy to choose another laundry
- not always. My nearest dry cleaner is 3o minutes away by pickup
and the next is about 1 hour and fifteen minutes away. I solved the
problem by: not having anything to dry clean; owning a washer and
dryer; not worrying about 'alterations'.
On the other hand, on the chance of a $12,000 payoff, I might want
to send a pair of 'my favorite' jeans through once a week or
so.
Maybe I'll start looking for a lawyer with a 'Satisfaction
Guaranteed' sign, too.
cgee|6.14.07 @ 2:17PM|#
Jesus Christ, Lamar, where in NYC do you live? I've lived in NYC my whole life, and never had a problem finding dry cleaners. Throw a rock and you'll hit 3 or 4 of them. And heck, the subway and buses are still only $2 (or $1.60 with the 20% MetroCard discount). I am seriously curious now -- what strange niche of NYC do you live in?
|6.14.07 @ 2:21PM|#
As for me, I can go to another dry cleaner, but it's 15
minutes away on foot (carrying all the clothes - it isn't an
option). The assholes downstairs are the only real
option.
So suing someone like that for $64 million and putting them out of
business would be a case of cutting your nose off to spite your
face, wouldn't it. Oh, wait; Judge Pearson probably could drive
somewhere else to get his dry cleaning done. He just drives people
out of business for the fun of it.
|6.14.07 @ 2:22PM|#
Aw, my only point is that we don't know what these people did to
set off ol' crank Pearson. $54 million, as any lawyer knows, is
just a made up number, as I said above. The fact that he rejected a
$12,000 settlement shows that he is not rational. I'm always
interested in what sets these people off. These people probably
don't deserve to have their livelihood taken away, agreed.
But to lose somebody's property and intentionally try to pass off a
fake as the real article deserves some serious punishment. Plus,
they didn't even respond when he demanded that they replace the
suit. Pearson is irrational and should have taken the $12,000. Deep
down I hope the shop owners take a serious, serious financial
hit.
|6.14.07 @ 2:28PM|#
954, reprazent! (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
All the wrangling aside, Judge Dreaded is right:
This Pearson character is a Class A douchebag.
If he doesn't possess the judgment not to use the courts
for his own personal vendettas (at our expense, may I remind you),
than how can we trust him to render just decisions on the
bench?
|6.14.07 @ 2:29PM|#
Oh, $54 million is actually a calculated number, based on a certain amount of damages for each day the dry cleaners kept their fraud going. My bad.
|6.14.07 @ 2:30PM|#
And what with this problem of "carrying all the clothes" on a 15-minute walk? Do you save up a month's worth of dry cleaning at a time? Or wear nothing but dry-clean only clothes? When I was in college (living without a car), I think the nearest dry cleaner's was at least 15 minutes away, but I don't recall that the walk ever killed me.
XaabaZu|6.14.07 @ 2:31PM|#
(former 773, beeyotches! Bucktown!)
So, I was working at a clothing store in the Belmont Clark area,
and crazy Carlos was in the store looking at shirts. "Oh, yeah,
this one looks nice", he said while holding the shirt at arm's
length. Then he looked at the tag: "Dry Clean Only. Might as well
say: 'Put it back on the rack'". Which he promptly did.
|6.14.07 @ 2:34PM|#
Aw, my only point is that we don't know what these people
did to set off ol' crank Pearson.
Well, Pearson had the opportunity to tell us (and the *real* judge)
what they did when he testified at trial, and unless the press is
suppressing it, he didn't tell us anything other than what we've
been reading in these stories.
lunchstealer|6.14.07 @ 2:35PM|#
Dave W. | June 14, 2007, 1:13pm | #
Geez, even Blackwater is only asking $10 million from the surviving
families of those crispy operatives.
No wonder Mr. Sullum blogged this instead of that!
You stupid fucking troll.
stephen the goldberger|6.14.07 @ 2:35PM|#
did you even read the article?
"Later, while recounting the day he says the cleaners tried to pass
off a cheaper pair of pants as his, Judge Pearson began to cry,
asking for a break and dabbing tears as he left the courtroom.
"
This man's actions are indefensible. What an asshole.
Keith|6.14.07 @ 2:39PM|#
What I understand from the Howard Stern news a few weeks ago is
that they misplaced and then found his pants. End of story. I don't
know if any other shenanigans took place, but even so. Even if they
shot a Bukakke starring a girl wearing just bunny ears and his
pants, $54 mill sounds a touch excessive.
This judge can go suck a dick.
|6.14.07 @ 2:45PM|#
Seamus: I wear a suit to work everyday, it gets sweaty in the
subway. I get it done every two weeks (because I have to leave work
early).
What we read in the stories was that a dry cleaner was yanking
Pearson's chain. Turns out, Pearson's a powder keg. He won't get
$54 million, but I wonder what the $12,000 settlement offer was all
about. It suggests that the dry cleaners were screwing people over
on purpose.
By the way, he's an ALJ, not a real judge. Yes, he's an asshole.
And I still hope the dry cleaner is hobbled with lawyer's
fees.
Query: What do you do when you lose somebody's
pants?
(a) apologize and offer to buy new pants.
(b) stall, hoping to find the pants soon.
(c) pass off your son's Wranglers as suit pants, then refuse to
speak to the person you tried so hard to screw over.
|6.14.07 @ 2:51PM|#
At last. Lo these many years, I've searched for a web handle I could love. It just goes to show that one should never give up hope...
thoreau|6.14.07 @ 2:54PM|#
I'd be willing to suffer the trauma of lost pants for a mere $27 million. That's half off!
|6.14.07 @ 2:59PM|#
thoreau,
And if you act NOW, we'll throw in a FREE Judicial-System-Abusing
Asshole.
Call within the next 20 minutes.
Ellie|6.14.07 @ 3:05PM|#
I wonder what the $12,000 settlement offer was all about. It
suggests that the dry cleaners were screwing people over on
purpose.
Or that they'd lose more than that on lawyer fees and time away
from their business to attend the trial and the endless, endless
appeals that will no doubt come from a man who sheds actual tears
over a piece of clothing.
Anyway, if you're so dead set against having to travel to your
dry-cleaners, why do you think putting your current ones out of
business will be the answer? There's no guarantee that a new
dry-cleaners will open in the same place and not, like, a Hardee's
or pawn shop instead.
Take a taxi, hoof it, get a friend to do it, or buy fewer
dry-clean-only clothes. Sometimes things are not convenient. It's
called being an adult. Nut up already.
|6.14.07 @ 3:12PM|#
"why do you think putting your current ones out of business
will be the answer"
I never suggesting putting my dry cleaners out of biz.
As for being an adult, hell, being an adult means you can lose
somebody's property then try to pass off a fake as the real thing
and expect no consequences. And I guess adults deal with getting
caught in an obvious fraud by refusing to speak to the person
defrauded. Seriously, other than a lawsuit, what recourse do we
have when businesses take advantage of us? Let's not forget: the
Soo's probably didn't know that Pearson was an ALJ. They just
thought he was another sucker come to line their pockets.
stephen the goldberger|6.14.07 @ 3:21PM|#
The only way to settle this is for Pearson to have to try on the pants in court to see if they are actually his.
|6.14.07 @ 3:35PM|#
Lamar, as any practicing lawyer would tell you, what you need to do is get married. The main purpose of a spouse is to pick up one's dry cleaning. (And look good at firm functions.)
|6.14.07 @ 3:35PM|#
He rejected a more than reasonable settlement, no matter what
the facts are in this instance. The case should be dismissed, and
Pearson should be forced to pay all court costs, all of the
plaintiff's legal fees, and pay THEM for all the time he has
wasted.
Someone being a jerk to you does not imply that you have the right
to be an infinitely bigger jerk to them, at public expense.
Jackie Chiles|6.14.07 @ 3:36PM|#
The only way to settle this is for Pearson to have to try on
the pants in court to see if they are actually his.
Just make sure he doesn't try them on over his clothes. Or rubber
underpants.
|6.14.07 @ 3:36PM|#
jp: I tried that. My last craigslist ad in the discrete encounters section said, "SWM ISO goth fetish queen to pick up laundry"
VM|6.14.07 @ 3:37PM|#
jp-
can't be a civil union, tho, cuz there's the famous "opt out"
clause for dry cleaners!
Dave W.|6.14.07 @ 3:42PM|#
but I wonder what the $12,000 settlement offer was all
about. It suggests that the dry cleaners were screwing people over
on purpose.
It may suggest that. It also suggests to me that the dry cleaner
wanted to invoke a fee shifting statute, if DC has one, so that the
dry cleaner could get back its legal cost if/when less than $12,000
is awarded.
Even in the context of a tendered settlement offer, $12,000 seems
high. Either they had a lot of confidence in the plaintiff's
irrationality and/or they are worried about punitives based on
intentional lies.
grylliade|6.14.07 @ 3:42PM|#
No wonder Mr. Sullum blogged this instead of that!
I know! He'd probably get fired if he blogged the other one!
|6.14.07 @ 3:45PM|#
jp: I tried that. My last craigslist ad in the discrete
encounters section said, "SWM ISO goth fetish queen to pick up
laundry"
Well that's your problem right there, you see. The dry-cleaning
kind of woman doesn't read Craigslist. You need to go to The Right Stuff. (And when
they say "stuff," they do mean "stuff.")
Dave W.|6.14.07 @ 3:46PM|#
I know! He'd probably get fired if he blogged the other
one!
Or sued for libel by Blackwater's Starr attorney!
|6.14.07 @ 3:49PM|#
jp: I checked it out the Right Stuff dating site, and they don't allow nipples or erection photos either. What's a man gotta do to get his laundry picked up?!
VM|6.14.07 @ 3:56PM|#
See, Ellie! You need to post hier more often!
Gay dry cleaners are much better, btw - they are the absolute tops
at cleaning sequins!
:)
|6.14.07 @ 4:01PM|#
Dude, the guy cried about pants. I'm really not trusting his
story about them trying to pass off an inferior copy; I mean, check
the damn tags. They may have tried it, I don't know. Even if they
did it, this is beyond stupid. Even if the Chungs are lil' hitler
conmen, the most be could reasonably expect a bit of punitive
damages.
And, as a recent law school graduate, I can attest to the fact you
don't have to be that smart to get through. Not that he is actually
stupid in the low IQ sense. He's that special kind of stupid that
only smart people can really pull off.
miche|6.14.07 @ 4:03PM|#
Lamar! Throw off the shackles of the Chinese mob and buy a can of starch! Free-DOM!
Actually, I tried that for a while. Not worth the trouble.
After I quit my job, I started looking at little ways to save $ and
make it appear that I do a whole lot more than I do around the
house. I took on the husband's shirts. He laughed at me and gave it
a week. It took me 30 minutes per shirt to make them look as nice
as Bibbentuckers. It lasted about a month and now the shirts are
picked up/delivered to my house again every Tues/Fri.
|6.14.07 @ 4:05PM|#
And as to a pattern of misbehavior by the Chungs--- the judge is
the only defendant. He doesn't get damages for crap pulled on other
people. That's what class actions are for; he can only sue for the
damages caused to him alone.
This whole suit just demonstrates how much damage people can do
legal system when they know how to use the system. Honestly I
wouldn't be suprised if this suit ends up ruining that judge. It
was implied in the article that he might get fired, and I know I
wouldn't like to go in front of a judge who is frankly an obsessive
crank. Who knows if you got a fair trial or you lost because he
thought you resembled his dry cleaner.
|6.14.07 @ 4:32PM|#
the buses are so few and far between these days
Have mercy, been waitin' for the bus all day.
SugarFree|6.14.07 @ 4:33PM|#
VM,
That's NOT FUNNY! My uncle died of taint whithering and I won't
have his memory sullied!
By the way, I sidestep this whole issue by not buying clothes that
require dry cleaning. That and I like looking rumpled. It gives me
an air of mystery and danger in my profession.
|6.14.07 @ 4:35PM|#
"He won't get $54 million, but I wonder what the $12,000
settlement offer was all about. It suggests that the dry cleaners
were screwing people over on purpose."
Having worked in a customer service setting for 10 years (ended a
year ago thankfully), I can attest that a settlement offer seldom
has to do with actual wrongdoing on the part of the business and
more with making a "problem" customer go away. I can't tell you how
much money (refunds and compensation) my company paid out to
unstable folks who did not deserve one cent. Unfortunately, guys
like this tend to be the type who will stop by every day during
your busiest time and yell at you in an attempt to alienate your
customer base. Paying them off is usually cheaper than losing all
your other customers and being right.
VM|6.14.07 @ 4:40PM|#
But... Sugar!
Why did your uncle dare cross the URKOBOLD?
(I agree with the no-dry-clean policy. This is why I only wear
rubber. It just wipes away.)
SugarFree|6.14.07 @ 4:53PM|#
This is why I only wear rubber.
That is so hot.
Anyway, this is all I know of my uncle's sin:
Yes, truly did the URKOBOLD smite him and he found himself
smoten, and so did the mystery of his smotenning vex his people
from the very day of his smotenment.
-The Books of Random Judgment: Chapter 84, Verse 2
Kurt|6.14.07 @ 4:57PM|#
Lamar,
might I suggest one of
these. When I lived in the city I got a cheap one at a local
store for about ten bucks.
|6.14.07 @ 5:04PM|#
Kurt,
Thanks, I got one of those. This is for dry cleaning, not laundry,
though I guess I should admit that I still bring my regular laundry
to the same dirt-bag cleaners I claim to hate so much.
Lamar\'s Local Dry Cleaner|6.14.07 @ 5:08PM|#
Lamar! You are busted like cheap slut on well-lit street! No cleaning for you--ten thousand years!
Lamar\'s Local Dry Cleaner|6.14.07 @ 5:40PM|#
Lamar! You hole of an ass! We did not have ancient Chinese secret! We used Calgon!
VM|6.14.07 @ 5:44PM|#
ah, yes. BoRJ. Between that and the Writ of the Arbitrary
Banter, URKOBOLD certainly does work in URKOBOLDIAN ways!
*ambles off
M|6.14.07 @ 8:39PM|#
DNA sample the pants he denies are his? Wasn't that the procedure used last time dry-cleaned testimony was disputed in Washington?
|6.15.07 @ 11:48AM|#
There's losing your pants and then there LOSING your pants in
court.
This DC judge's judgment has become one more turn of the screw
saying that DC is incapable of governing itself. Commissioner Barry
just gave it one more of his twists when he stopped at a green
light, went on red, and got away with it.
Forming a citi-state for DC is out of the quesition. Give the
private portion of the city back to Maryland if they will take
it.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245