Where Did My Pants Go?

Taking the Cleaners to the Cleaners

Even though it would be nice if people in the justice system always made sound and reasonable judgments, we know that isn’t the case. Let’s take the case of Judge Roy L. Pearson Jr. of Washington D.C. as a prime example. First, think about some of the qualities that a good judge should have. He or she should be fair. They should listen to the evidence and never jump to conclusions. They should be calm, cool, collected. Pearson was none of these things. In fact, many would say that he was the exact opposite.

What Happened with Judge Pearson?

As many other people do in Washington DC, Pearson took his clothes to the dry cleaners regularly. One day, while he was going to pick up a pair of his pants, he discovered that the dry cleaners had actually misplaced them. This upset Pearson to no end. He claimed that he never received the promised same day service from the company, and that he was never satisfied with them. This begs the question as to why he continued to go to them if he was so dissatisfied with their service.

The shop, called Custom Cleaners, was relatively small in terms of their number of customers. The Chung family that ran Custom Cleaners had three cleaning shops, but they were a “mom and pop shop” through and through. Instead of waiting to see if the pants turned up, or buying another pair, or even requesting that they replace the pants, he decided to sue them. Did he decide to sue them for the cost of the pants? What about double, triple, or even quadruple the cost of the pants? No, that wouldn’t be nearly enough to satiate Judge Pearson. He decided that the best course of action would be to sue them for $67 million, which he later dropped down to a measly $54 million.

The Verdict At Trial And Appeal

Of course, the Chung family didn’t have much recourse but to put up a defense, which proved costly and difficult for them. In fact, they had to close two of their three shops to pay for their legal fees. Fortunately, the head of a cooler judge prevailed and ruled in favor of the Chung family. This didn’t deter Pearson though, as he filed an appeal. Thankfully, they rejected this as well. Hopefully, the Chung family was able to recuperate and build up their business after Pearson nearly destroyed it.

Take a moment to think about what prompted this case – a missing pair of pants. While it is certainly frustrating to have the dry cleaner lose something, a suit for more than $50 million doesn’t seem like a logical solution for most people. He was a judge, and he could have bought another pair of pants and then taken his business elsewhere, like a normal person.

He F aught The Law And The Law Won

Another one of the good things to stem from this case is the fact that Pearson lost his job as a judge just four months into the lawsuit. A review board said that he did not have the correct judicial temperament and didn’t display appropriate judgment. Truer words have rarely been said.

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