This is just obscene—a Korean immigrant family that run a dry-cleaning business in Washington DC are being sued for 67 million dollars [ABC News] for a missing pair of trousers:
Is somebody getting taken to the cleaners?
A $10 dry cleaning bill for a pair of trousers has ballooned into a $67 million civil lawsuit.
Plaintiff Roy Pearson, a judge in Washington, D.C. [emphasis mine], says in court papers that he’s been through the ringer over a lost pair of prized pants he wanted to wear on his first day on the bench.
He says in court papers that he has endured “mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort.”
He says he was unable to wear that favorite suit on his first day of work.
He’s suing for 10 years of weekend car rentals so he can transport his dry cleaning to another store.
[...]
Defending themselves against the suit — for two years running — are Korean immigrants Jin and Soo Chung and their son, who own Custom Cleaners and two other dry cleaning shops in the Fort Lincoln section of Washington, D.C.
In case you were wondering how Pearson did his calculations:
With neither satisfaction nor his prized gray pants, Pearson upped the ante considerably.
The judge went to the lawbooks. Citing the District of Columbia’s consumer protection laws, he claims he is entitled to $1,500 per violation.
Per day.
What follows is the beginning of thousands of pages of legal documents and correspondence that, two years later, have led to a massive civil lawsuit in the amount of $67 million.
According to court papers, here’s how Pearson calculates the damages and legal fees:
He believes he is entitled to $1,500 for each violation, each day during which the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign and another sign promising “Same Day Service” was up in the store — more than 1,200 days.
And he’s multiplying each violation by three because he’s suing Jin and Soo Chung and their son.
He also wants $500,000 in emotional damages and $542, 500 in legal fees, even though he is representing himself in court.
He wants $15,000 for 10 years’ worth of weekend car rentals as well.
Why, shit, if the Korean ambassador felt it necessary to apologize on behalf of ethnic Koreans worldwide for Virginia Tech, surely, an apologize from at least the foreign minister is due for the Chung family’s violation of all that is good and holy.
Pearson—sweet guy that he is—even went as far as to enlist neighbors and fellow customers in an effort to turn the case into a class action suit, but was thankfully denied. The fact that neighbors and customers apparently agreed to join this travesty, however, is probably more damning than anything else.
The Family Chung is not very happy with the situation, to say the least:
“It’s not humorous, not funny and nobody would have thought that something like this would have happened,” Soo Chung told ABC News through an interpreter.
Her husband agreed.
“It’s affecting us first of all financially, because of all the lawyers’ fees,” Jin Chung said. “For two years, we’ve been paying lawyer fees. … We’ve gotten bad credit as well, and secondly, it’s been difficult mentally and physically because of the level of stress.”
Later, Soo Chung broke down in tears.
“I would have never thought it would have dragged on this long,” she told ABC News. “I don’t want to live here anymore. It’s been so difficult. I just want to go home, go back to Korea.”
Can you really blame her?
And what impact does this kind of nonsense have on American culture?
“People in America are now scared of each other,” legal expert Philip Howard told ABC News’ Law & Justice Unit. “That’s why teachers won’t put an arm around a crying child, and doctors order unnecessary tests, and ministers won’t meet with parishioners. It’s a distrust of justice and it’s changing our culture.”
Scary stuff.
(HT to reader)
UPDATE: Here’s Roy L. Pearson’s bio from the DC Office of Administrative Hearings. Now, I know I’m treading on dangerous territory here, but might I suggest that race could be a factor here—Pearson is black, and this being Northeast DC, I’m going to assume for the moment that many of Pearson’s neighbors and fellow customers are, too. Black community, Korean business…
79 Comments
Now would be a good time to heap scorn and disdain upon this miserable self-obsessed narcissist buffoon intent on ruining the Chung family.
Unbelievable. I only wish there were a way to help the family out.
I think that this country needs a reduction of 90% on the amount of lawyers here. There is a way to help out if we had a less materialistic society. This ‘judge’ should be completely ostracized from society. Anyone can and should refuse to have this ‘judge’ see their case. As a matter of fact, this ‘judge’ should have his license removed.
The Chung family should counter-sue because of the mental stress. Sue the court system for eight hundred trillion dollars.
There’s a lot more in this Associated Press story: Judge sues cleaner for $65M over pants.
On top of all that, the Chungs claim they found his pants a week after they were lost (although the judge claims they’re not his pants), and already offered settlements of $3,000, $4,500, and finally $12,000.
The American Tort Association—which is a small business interest group—is writing a letter to the panel that’s reviewing this week whether to renew the judge’s 10-year appointment, and retired judge wrote a letter to the Washington Post saying the gentleman should be disbarred.
It’s the 3rd most emailed story on Yahoo! News.
That this case has gotten this far is a disgrace to the U.S. legal system. It’s especially upsetting when you consider that they *found his pants* and he won’t take them back, and they offered to compensate him for far more than the “lost” pants were worth and he still refused. He has mental problems and has blatantly harassed these people.
According to the updated ABC News article, a legal defense fund has been set up to help the family pay their legal bills. The site is not active yet, but should be in a day or so. Apparently, the law firm got quite a lot of inquiries about donations following news coverage.
And, iIt seems ‘Judge’ Pearson has quite a history as a plaintiff. A comentor at the Overlawyered blog linked to this information about his unsuccessful attempts to fight his divorce decree and get his ex-wife to pay spousal support.
It the Korean Backlash we all feared coming true
The American legal system at its best.
I think the judge just set himself up for future political and career troubles over a pair of pants. What an idiot. More fodder for the venom against his profession.
I don’t know what’s wrong with you people. As for me, I LOVE IT!
Stick it to the Koreans. How many hundreds of times have foreign teachers been screwed over?
Why is everybody so quick to sympathize with the Chungs? Save some of the sympathy for your countrymen, the next time they’re screwed over here. BTW, the next screw-over is probably happening while you’re reading this.
Daveo said: “I only wish there were a way to help the family out.”
LOL! Send them your paycheck!
And Robert, I thought that was pretty cheap to insinuate racism.
if he was a little more prudent (I’m sure he’s a very smart guy), he should have removed a few zeroes, still would have been able to torture them with court stuff (which is his venomous intent from the get go), and this would have never made news.
and he might have won.
He deserves all the negative consequences.
What did he expect?
Is he a Democrat or affiliated with them by any chance?
wjk said:
“I think the judge just set himself up for future political and career troubles over a pair of pants.”
Oh well, then he goes back to being a high-priced lawyer. Not a bad consolation prize.
“Black community, Korean business…”
That’s right, there is more to every story than just money. Wonder what these people will say:
“Pearson plans to call 63 witnesses.”
Look, I can’t stand lawyers as much as the next guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ8kraRzE7A
But we are getting just one side of the story here.
Seth Gecko (#8): Isn’t it possible that the Chungs left Korea precisely because of the culture there that makes unscrupulous hagwon owners possible? Maybe a-letheia’s right and there’s more here than meets the eye, but how is supporting screwing these folks over for the injustices done to others half a world away going to solve anything?
I’ll leave the irony of chiding me for insinuating racism while simultaneously cheering Pearson for “sticking it to the Koreans” for someone else to discuss.
“how is supporting screwing these folks over for the injustices done to others half a world away going to solve anything?”
After all the “jobs” that Koreans have pulled on foreigners, its GREAT to see them get it back.
Koreans lie and lie when f*cking over the foreigners, even in court. With great impunity! The funny thing is that this judge isn’t lying! He’s following the rule of the law!
He’s holding the Koreans to their word. Koreans aren’t used to that.
“Satisfaction guaranteed” and “Same day service” were the signs on the front of the store, right? Funny, the (AP?) article says that they took the signs down.
“Stick it to the Koreans. How many hundreds of times have foreign teachers been screwed over?”
Stick it to the Koreans who screw over foreign teachers. Leave the rest out of it.
High priced lawyer isn’t a bad consolation prize.
I’ll defend Robert. I know a similar case where the cleaners messed up on someone’s leather jacket. Instead of settling, the plaintiff preferred to name a high price (it was worn, used, yet somehow the person wanted pricier than the best of its kind, new), and they went to court, and dragged on and on and on and on for a good year. And the judge gave a verdict lower than what the plaintiff wanted, but higher than what the cleaners expected.
Korean cleaners.
Unhappy African American customer who wanted to stick it to them.
LA riots, anyone?
“I’ll leave the irony of chiding me for insinuating racism while simultaneously cheering Pearson for “sticking it to the Koreans” for someone else to discuss.”
I’m happy to see the Chungs get called on their false promises. And I’m happy to see that the Koreans will NOT be able to lie their way out of this one.
Looking from the outside and saying “Black community, Korean business…” is cheap.
You’re saying something, but not really saying it.
Kind of like putting your comment out to me, then saying you’ll leave it “for someone else to discuss.” Cheap.
This is truly despicable.
http://www.customcleanersdefensefund.com
This is truly despicable.
http://www.customcleanersdefensefund.com
There you go, Daveo!
in movies, you can see Korean mom and pop stores, leaving change on the counter table, instead of handing it to the black customer.
I think I’ve seen it done as well, in real life.
When I was in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, there was this grocery store, managed by a Black American. He didn’t do it to me, but to my mother, he would always leave the change on the counter. Never handing it to her. To other customers, he would hand it to them.
Go figure.
Must have been able to figure out who’s Korean and who’s not.
The pants weren’t lost, the Koreans offered to settle for $12,000, I mean….WTF?
Put aside the fact that they’re Korean immigrants. If I can do that, anyone can.
They tried to settle, but how big an asshole is this “judge” (an administrative law judge is not a “real” judge, BTW) for not accepting $12,000 when he has not suffered any loss? The only thing that happened was:
“He says he was unable to wear that favorite suit on his first day of work.”
How old is he…5? He should be ashamed of himself.
I disagree that this is indicates a “shameful legal system”. Anyone can file a suit against anyone for anything naming any amount of damages. That doesn’t mean there will be a trial or even a hearing.
“leaving change on the counter table, instead of handing it to the black customer.”
I was thinking about this the other day. I think that with the Koreans, they are comfortable in knowing how to show the proper respect. For example, they can tell, within a few years, how old a Korean is. Probably better than me. Anyway, then they can gauge how much respect to show them when giving back the money. For example, one hand, two hands, or with an added bow.
With foreigners, maybe they can’t figure out how much “respect” (one hand, two hands, bow, deep bow) to give, so they just leave the money on the counter.
Like at the banks and post offices here, in Korea. They use those little trays.
I don’t know. I’m DEFINITELY not being an apologist for them, just trying to figure that one out as well.
Even $3,000 for a lost pair of pants is ridiculous. What would Judge Judy said?
American lawyers and judges just seem to be such greedy bastards, except for Brendon.
From the information contained in the “judge’s” bio, this guy was never a high priced lawyer. Maybe he’s trying to make up for it?
judges wear those big black dresses right? I was pretty sure they were all pantless underneath. What’s this guy’s deal?
Administrative law judges are not “judges” as most people think of them and they don’t wear robes.
Some of them, anyway.
Really? Is that what you would recommend? When in doubt about “how much respect” to show someone, especially a customer, “none” is not the best choice. These store owners can’t be that stupid to be doing it innocently and by accident.
Well, this “judge” used to provide advice to Mayor Marion Barry. Maybe he picked up a few pointers in return. (Barry’s terms as mayor ran from 1979-91, and again from 1995-99).
Carr said:
“Really? Is that what you would recommend?”
I never said I recommended that. I was very clear in my post. I was trying to think of a possible reason that the Korean shop owners don’t always hand people the money.
Re-read the post, this time with your glasses on.
OFFTOPIC
Web cartoonist Matt Boyd was fired for talking about guns (and apparently saying you’d need to shoot someone multiple times at close range to kill someone with .22). He drew about it in a comic.
what he said…
the next day…
Not only that but apparently the police has contacted him about the comic because it’s a potential terroristic (sic) threat! Oh you wacky americans.
Sorry should have been…
Above quote from these guys (scroll down past comic).
I’d love to see Katt Williams work this one over.
“Not only that but apparently the police has contacted him about the comic because it’s a potential terroristic (sic) threat! Oh you wacky americans.”
That is just nuts. It’s fiction. Using that line of logic, they should contact every action movie director and writer.
Rumors tell us that the guy who lost his trousers was inspired by the Korean legal system.
A sad aspect of American society today.
Let’s see. The article says the idiot calculated the damage like so:
$1,500 dollar per the 2 signs. Multiplied by 3 people of the drycleaner’s and 1200 days.
$1,500 * 2 signs * 3 people * 1200 days = $10,800,000
$15,000 for car rentals, 500k for emotional damages. 542,500 for legal fees.
Which comes to about 12 million dollars.
Where’s the $67 million coming from?
“Where’s the $67 million coming from?”
Maybe he failed his grade 6 math?
I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins though. Considering that people can sue and win in court for being uncoordinated enough to spill hot coffee on themselves and blame it on the restaurant which served the coffee.
I gotta agree with cm. It appears as if it’s an open and shut case in their favor, but stranger things have happened in the courtroom before (there was also that teacher that was convicted of showing porn to her students on her classroom computer in spite of the fact that the porn was in popups that were caused by malware that had infected the computer long before she even came to that school).
Defensive civil litigation in federal courts is my line of work these days, and this has “frivolous” stamped all over it. This case should be dismissed sua sponte by the judge or shortly after a settlement conference. Then, the Chungs should either sue, or (if the case is not dismissed yet) add a counterclaim for abuse of process.
If this were my case, I would be inclined to play strictly defense in front of the D.C. court if possible, get the original case dismissed, and then file my tort suit in federal district court, which is probably a better forum for recovery. D.C. courts can be a bit like, say, Korean courts.
If ethnic bias did in fact enter into the motives for the suit or the effort to recruit the neighbors — and we’re strictly speculating about that, of course — the Chungs would have a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1981 or 1983, for conspiracy to violate their civil rights. That count would require a fair amount of investigation to develop further, but it would effectively end Pearson’s career as an ALJ if it stuck. Pearson’s bio does suggest more experience as a neighborhood rabble-rouser than as a legal scholar. I happen to think the world needs both types, but I don’t think the two types are mutually fungible.
If the Chungs hire the right lawyer, they should seek sanctions from the court, damages, and attorney fees, and if they are considered a “prevailing party” at the end of the story, the odds are excellent they’ll get all of the above.
Like a lot of suits that haven’t been exposed to the scrutiny of a court yet, this seems very unjust. But I have a reasonable degree of faith that after the Chungs have been exposed to a great deal of needless stress and hassle, they’ll be compensated for this abuse of the system.
Joshua, this isn’t my specialty (I’m in IP), but how would 42 USC section 1981/1983 enter into this, if (as it appears) Pearson was acting as a private individual rather than under color of office?
I’m pretty disgusted by this adminstrative law judge (BTW, note that his bio is no longer available). I feel confident that he’s going to have to explain himself to the bar sometime in the near future.
What puzzles me is why this case wasn’t dismissed early on, and instead was allowed to go to trial.
Yet one more reason for tort reform.
“A sad aspect of American society today.”
The shame! I call on all Americans to fast for 67 million days.
seems like most people want tort reform.
You know who is FOR tort reform?
Republicans.
You know who wants it to stay the way it is, because they take the lobby money from lawyers?
Democrats would prefer not to do tort reform. Under the text that some people would suffer harm from it.
You decide.
Shoot the Republicans for guns and anti-abortion?
Shoot the Democrats for anti-tort reform.
How much you want to bet this man is an incompetent asshole who likely got his judge position via affirmative action, and has a huge chip on his shoulders?
none, because he went to an ivy league law school and passed his bar.
OK, so let’s say he went to an ivy league (actually he went to Northwestern Univ, but whatever) school.
You’ve never heard of people being admitted to ivy leagues on affirmative action?
How does someone who got his JD from a place like Northwestern Univ end up as an “administrative judge”? In case you don’t know what that is, that’s like a judge who presides over case involving traffic tickets.
Put two and two together.
ORblog, You are correct in stating that he would have had to violate another person’s rights “under color of law” to violate 1983. Although I mentioned several of the “ifs” and made allowances for this being speculative, one that I should have mentioned is that he would have had to use his official position to do this somehow.
The judge is a dickhead who thinks he has power, plain and simple (if he were a Kennedy, he’d just ram his car into the building and claim the anti-depressants made him sleepy).
I’d say it’s not a poor reflection on American society as so many Americans get riled up at exactly this sort of BS.
I hope the cleaners counter-sue for whatever they can get, and clean his clock.
I’m beginning to get more upset about the fact that the Chung family is being represented by some guy named Chris Manning and have over $21,000 in legal expenses. I can’t believe not a single Korean-American lawyer has stepped up the plate to help the Chungs as a pro-bono case.
Why should only Korean-Americans be outraged enough to want to help? The linked article at the top includes this update:
“Hundreds of readers have responded to our story about the lawsuit against the owners of Custom Cleaners in Washington D.C. And so many more have contacted an attorney for the cleaners that a legal defense fund is being set up to coordinate donations. Chris Manning, the attorney for the cleaners, told ABC News that he and his clients are grateful for the outpouring of support, but ask that potential donors wait another day before their defense fund website http://www.customcleanersdefensefund.com is up and running. “
Moreover, Sherman Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association, is pushing for a denial of Pearson’s judicial appointment renewal.
The near unanimous reaction of US netizens is outrage and disgust at the administrative “judge.”
It was reported in AP that the Chungs are considering moving back to Korea owing to the financial burden of the lawsuit and stress. I hope they will reconsider when they see an outpouring of support from Americans.
“How much you want to bet this man is an incompetent asshole who likely got his judge position via affirmative action, and has a huge chip on his shoulders?”
That’s a pretty racist statement, Kim. You really, you want to know why some blacks don’t like Koreans? Just look at yourself in the mirror.
…We don’t have affirmative action in Canada, but I’ve seen this sort of veiled bigotry before. There, we have people who bitch about the French getting all the jobs because of bilingualism (attempt at hiding one’s bigotry against francophones) and immigrants coming to Canada for our social programs and then refusing to assimilate into Canadian culture (attempt at hiding one’s xenophobia).
Maybe you should have left it at “How much you want to bet this man is an incompetent asshole”.
Seems like the only Korean-Americans who get support here are those who shoot black Americans or get sued by them. Can’t wait for the next Korean-Am. with a conflict with blacks that gets put on a pedestal here as the ‘model Korean immigrant’.
Burger King,
That’s a dishonest statement. Most people were supporting the Chungs before they even knew the judge was black.
i dont get it… does he really believe that he will get anything close to 67 million dollars??? he should have taken 12,000 dollar offer and moved on.
Anybody else have trouble pulling up the judge’s bio page from the D.C. site? I see a huge karmic backhand whacking this guy in the face sometime down the down.
Somedude,
Name me another Korean-American, who was supported on this site without a conflict w/an African-American.
If the local dry cleaner were to lose or ruin any of my clothes, yes I would be upset, but at the most I would ask them to reimburse the cost of the lost/runied piece of clothing, not sue them for $67 million!
BK wrote:
“Name me another Korean-American, who was supported on this site without a conflict w/an African-American.”
Name some Korean-Americans involved in similar conflicts who deserved support but didn’t get it. You are generalizing based on two stories. You made the charge. You prove it.
“It was reported in AP that the Chungs are considering moving back to Korea owing to the financial burden of the lawsuit and stress.”
Lol they’re going to do a midnight run!
“We don’t have affirmative action in Canada”
Well, you’re partly right.
In Canada, affirmative action plans in relation to employment are called “employment equity plans”.
My school in Canada had an “Affirmative Action Policy” (exact wording). If you were black or Native, you could check a box and possibly be accepted for one of the few spaces kept specifically for those two groups.
Btw, the blacks and Natives could also vie for the “regular” spaces, too.
“Somedude,
Name me another Korean-American, who was supported on this site without a conflict w/an African-American.”
So now you’re changing your tune. OK, fine, I’ll take a bite: Hines Ward.
Seth,
You make it sound as if there weren’t any whites on campus. Another BS complaint I hear is how the Natives supposedly get a free ride at university. The only one that I know who got any money from the government received a measly 300$ (and that’s when a Canadian dollar was about 65 cents to the US dollar). Nothing to be jealous about. I got a bigger scholarship from my credit union simply because I had been a longtime member.
SomeguyinKorea said:
“You make it sound as if there weren’t any whites on campus.”
I don’t understand how you could ever infer that from my post.
I said:
“If you were black or Native, you could check a box and possibly be accepted for one of the few spaces kept specifically for those two groups.”
I thought it would be obvious that whites made up most of the other spaces, those not “kept specifically for” blacks and Natives.
Anyway, plenty of whites on campus. Hence the Affirmative Action policy.
SomeguyinKorea also said:
“Another BS complaint I hear is how the Natives supposedly get a free ride at university. The only one that I know who got any money from the government received a measly 300$”
Totally off-topic. But I’ll bite.
Your friend, if a status Indian, went to school a LONG time ago, or he’s lying to you, or he doesn’t (didn’t) know what he was eligible for.
Status Indians are eligible for tuition support (which may include registration, tuition and the cost of books and supplies required for courses).
They can also get travel support, and support for living expenses.
“The current PSE budget of $293 million enables more than 27,000 Status Indian and Inuit students to attend college and university.”
And your friend received “a measly 300$”? Sucks to be him.
Send him this link, lol:
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/info/info110_e.html
One could make a sarcastic comment now regarding the hard work of Korean immigrants versus the entitlements and government subsidies…nah… it was lost and misconstrued here once before…
“Your friend, if a status Indian, went to school a LONG time ago, or he’s lying to you, or he doesn’t (didn’t) know what he was eligible for.”
Nope: early 90’s, not lying, that’s the max he was eligible for because he earned quite a bit of money at his summer job.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19075667/
seoulmilk, thanks for the update. Now the clown only wants 54M. He’s suing because signs said “same day service” and “customer satisfaction guaranteed.” Clearly misrepresentation.
PS: Aren’t you the one who was thinking about law school? Has the good judge in this story inspired you?
cheap shot, pa.
there are bad guys in every industry. And good guys, too.
wjk, I was only kidding. I agree with you.
ps: anything else about this “took me to the cleaners” story stateside or from the K-A community?
I don’t blame African-Americans for their lack of reason and their behaviour. It can be explained by exact science. Their genetical kinship with the first hominids such as Australopithecus primitivus and Australopithecus zwartediefi is very close. Paleoanthropologists have published in Nature that especially the West-African Australopithecus subspecies were specialized in looting and parasiting. On the other hand, they were very skilled in picking cotton and devouring huge amounts of poultry.Wow, Havik… you’re bleatin’ for a deletin’ with that one.
I appreciate the use of the strike-out though so us late-comers can be entertained.
He got more than deleted with that one — he got banned.
Havik, Get your cottonpickin’ hands off our website! (Had to be well beyond the age of majority before I even reflected on that adjective.)
“He got more than deleted with that one — he got banned.”
Good. That was about the nastiest thing I’ve seen here. And that’s saying something!
It was reprehensible.
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[...] law judge who is suing a Korean-American dry cleaner for $54 million for a lost pair of pants, was first reported, I asked whether race might have something to do with [...]
[...] Korean immigrants sued for $67 million for missing pants? WTF?: Marmot’s Hole, 4 May 2007, with the usual lively comments thread. [...]