Roy “Fancypants” Pearson, the ex-judge who sued a dry-cleaner for $54 million over a misplaced pair of pants, that the cleaner even offered to replace, is continuing to press his case. He lost his original suit, he lost his job, now a court has agreed to hear his appeal. This man gets the award for worst…consumer…ever. Video inside.
$54 Million ‘Pants’ Lawsuit Headed Back to Court [ABC7] (Thanks to coloradoshark!)
Catch up on the story by checking out these previous posts.
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What could there be left to appeal? I hope he is forced to pay for all the time he’s wasting in the courts. As a former judge, he should know this better than anyone. I hope he loses more than his pants after dragging down the already burdened legal system.
Will someone please put this guy out of his misery. I mean, I don’t advocate assassination, but what a worthless piece of sewage this guy is. I guess I can only hope something bad happens to pay him back for all the pain he’s caused other people.
@nicemarmot617: Like he gets caught under an avalanche of pants while at a store?
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy–>: If the avalanche of pants is infected with bedbugs, that sounds about right.
This is a prime example of there being a need for a “common sense” rule for lawsuits. Like the family of the robber who shot a guy at a bar that he was robbing. The guy who was shot was able to then kill the robber, and the family of the robber was sueing the owner of the bar because the freaking robber was not provided adequte protection. It’s also another example of why the U.S. is becoming the laughing stock of the world.
@nicemarmot617: Not into assassinations? How about an “accident”
@dveight: did that actually happen, or did that come off some Chamber of Commerce puppet site like Overlawyered?
There are ‘common sense’ rules, however, I really don’t think you’d want there to be a rule that says if the judge doesn’t like you, he or she can ignore the law and dismiss your case.
@dveight:
Pull down some case history on that case (robber v. homeowner who shot him – robber wins). I don’t believe it exists. There is an electrocution case of similar circumstance. And with what i know, I don’t support the family getting $75k.
There is a massive “common sense” rule in lawsuits. It is hard as hell to convince a jury of real wrong, even when there has been real wrong. People go after money, and media face time, but they don’t win very often. This guy is really good at getting his case heard, probably because of his experience as a lawyer / judge. But he has lost and will lose again. The legal fees for the defendants suck, but there is no system better than this.
Consumers have to have legal protection for the wrongs that are brought upon them. If the case has undeniable merit, it will be settled, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE PENDING LAWSUIT.
Rather than belittle the system realize it is the protection of these idiots that helps protects all of the legitimate cases we read about here. I would much rather have illegitiamate lawsuits sneak trhough sometimes than see people powerless to fight.
It’s obvious that he is nothing more than a media whore. I wish we could just ignore people like this.
I know you don’t like foul language but I gotta say “What the fuck?”. Is our court system so screwed up that they would even consider this appeal? I am indeed ashamed that this would even be considered.
@consumer-warrior: Appeals are made on errors of law. Maybe he found a piece of evidence improperly included/excluded.
I’d love to read the court’s opinion on this one.
@consumer-warrior:
In some states litigants have an appeal as of right. Not sure what the rule is where he is. VA does NOT have appeal as of right, but I’m not sure about MD or DC.
Aside from that the grant of appeals have nothing to do with the evidence or the ‘worthiness’ of the cause. It’s only “did the trial judge screw something up”. While the judge may have rightly dismissed, he still needs to have done it the correct way. The system only works if the trial judges do what they are supposed to. The appellate courts ensure that they do.
I think the guy’s going about it all wrong. He needs to make it a class action suit and be the representation. I’m sure all the bottomless judges wandering around out there because of Big Cleaning would be happy to join and probably make a more sympathetic group. Perhaps he’d win.
Don’t forget to tie in Big Cleaning’s connections to Global Warming, child labor, and promoting public lewdness. /sarcasm
It was a mistake to give this idiot more publicity.
Look, let’s be honest here…
Judges don’t wear pants under those robes.
I thought we were not allowed to blame the conusmer?
@laserjobs: you’re not allowed to blame the VICTIM. Crazy pants judge is not a victim.
@mythago: He lost his pants, LITERALLY! Of course he’s the victim here, how dare you sir
@laserjobs: To every rule, there is an exception. Judge Roy teaches by (bad) example about being a consumer.
@laserjobs: All commenters are equally held to the comment code — some more equally than others.
Maybe these were NASA designed heat-resistant astronaut pants, and $54 million is how much the pants actually cost.
@brainswarm: If the pants cost that much, I shudder to think how much the diapers underneath cost.
This guy is such a tool. I wonder if he has some sort of mental problem where he’s compelled to keep going. Or, he could just be on a quest to be the most hated man in the world — he’d have my vote.
Seriously now.
i would like to just see the 3 judges sitting on this case to stand up at the end, and say “you sir, can eat a dick” and when he brings it in front of the entire panel of judges, they just stand up at the begining of the trial, and say that again, because this guy is just a media glutton.
than again, maybe we should team him up with Jack Thomson….
This guy reminds me of Jack Thompson. I’m not sure how, but he does.
Oh, maybe it’s the crazy.
@chiieddy: not quite. I think if this were jack, he’d try to take down the entire laundering industry with him.
heh.
The plaintiff obviously has a psychological problem.
@twophrasebark: Oh he does, it was reported that he started crying while being questioned on the witness stand.
Hasn’t this guy done enough damage? Not only does he look like an idiot and he lost his job over his bizzare behavior in filing the lawsuit and his manners in court, but the dry cleaners in question were forced to close their business because of the unwanted attention he brought on them.
Who here thinks this might deserve the “bad consumer” tag?
So, this guy has the option if they rule against him to seek another appeal where all the judges get to tell him no? I wonder if I can sue him for wasting tax payer dollars on frivolous cases like this.
Has nobody ordered a psych evaluation on this guy? Seriously, behavior like this is a sign of something wrong. It’s fun to call him a nut-job and such, but at some point you have to ask whether or not there’s a real pathology involved.
I can’t imagine this guy expects to win anything, I would guess all he wants to do is cause damage to their business, which he has succeeded in doing so far.
Doesn’t make the guy any less of a dick, though.
@jimmypopjr: Well, I guess he figures he has nothing left to lose. Lost his job, his suit-both in court and…nevermind. Bitter, humiliated, and he still has the right to appeal. This is the fallen man’s last stand, which he will lose, and finally disappear into obscurity and hopefully misery
@jimmypopjr: Do you think he caused damage to their business? Yes, their first store is gone, but they are up and running again, and I for one would go to them specifically because they stood up to this guy. It seems they have a lot of support. The article says they managed to raise funds for their legal defense. I’m not saying this is a case of “all press is good press” because I’m sure it’s painful for them.
Seriously? This guy must have something against Koreans or something. This is obviously the actions of a clearly racist individual who just wants to cause problems for a successful imigrant family.
@sjkang: Yeah, thats it, racism is always to blame.
This is example 1,304,415 why we need loser pay rules in this country
@TracyHamandEggs!: You know perfectly well why “loser pays” isn’t feasible, so I’m really tired of you bringing it up.
@nytmare: Oh, I’m sorry I brought up a valid, often debated, legal principle that could have stopped this travesty from going forward. One that happens to be the rule of law in Canada and has really limited lawsuit abuse.
@Farquar: The only way he has taken advantage is that by being a lawyer he can do all this for free, while the people who he sued had to hire (and pay) an attorney. You see this quite often in some of the more outrageous lawsuits (the NY flower suit) Often this results in settlements when they aren’t deserved, if only to avoid the cost of litigation. Sadly, I can’t think of a way to avoid this. The same thing should apply for people people sued by major corporations, its completely unfair for poor Joe Shmoe to have to lay out thousands to reply to a suit from the RIAA.
@TracyHamandEggs!: That’s not taking advantage of the system.
CPA’s can do their own taxes. Mechanics can fix their own cars. Veterinarians can dispense their magical healing powers on their own dogs. Lawyers can resolve their own legal issues.
Just because this one instance involves an idiot doesn’t in turn mean he’s taking advantage of the system. He’s just an idiot that happens to be a lawyer.
@TracyHamandEggs!: Actually, in the US, the loser in a lawsuit can (in certain circumstances) be liable for the other side’s legal costs. The idea that a pure ‘loser pays’ rule really works is pushed only by those who believe corporations should never ever be sued.
@bria: Are my eyes deceiving me? Is your comment bigoted? Shouldn’t it have been disemvoweled?
@nytmare:
“You know perfectly well why “loser pays” isn’t feasible, so I’m really tired of you bringing it up. “
Because it works in so many other jurisdictions? Like Canada?
@kingmanic: Just because they have it somewhere doesn’t mean it works.
“They do it in Canada” doesn’t mean anything except “They do it in Canada.”
There needs to be more to your argument than that.
@Farquar: I live in Canada I work IT in a public legal education institution. It works here. Big companies aren’t rampantly violating the rights of people, loser pays does stifle the number of frivolous and possibly some legitimate lawsuits. How exactly will it fail? It hasn’t chilled legitimate lawsuits in Canada. Canadians enjoy as much or more liberty then Americans. Canada is just as stable and almost as wealthy.
Predatory tactics with lawsuits are more of a Canadian thing. Here the judges have more leeway to smack down plaintiffs if it seems they are simply stretching out the trial.
@kingmanic: “Predatory tactics with lawsuits are more of a Canadian thing? Here the judges have more leeway to smack down plaintiffs if it seems they are simply stretching out the trial.”
The question mark is important.
@kingmanic: I realize Canadians are kinda belligerent about how much better they are than Americans in every way, but the “English rule” – aka loser pays – is not magically superior to the American system. (Interesting article here.) And loser-pays means nothing when the plaintiff is a crazy person representing himself, particularly if he is judgment-proof.
@mythago: Maybe the thinly veiled anti-Canadian racism can be kept off this board? And we Canadians will try not to be belligerent about our superiority?
I am simply amazed at how this idiot is using the system to be basically a bully and still demand the 54 mil for the pants. Here is an idea. If it was up to me I would do it in a heart beat. I would abduct him, and sorry for the language but I would fucking send him to Haiti where a storm is forcing people to flee, or drop him off in Somalia and let’s see how long he will survive there on his own due to constant fighting between many drug lords and bastards for the land, money, you name it. People are fleeing that place, being forced to jump from the boat on gun point and some did die as the news reported. This man deserves no sympathy for his mental breakdown, his defense team needs to be shot along with him, and the judges who want to see this case again and listen to what he has to say, must be shot as well. Why is this being allowed. I think someone higher than a judge should step in, put him into a mental institution for life, and deny him his constitutional right to sue people fro such amounts, and basically put him to work for 1 dollar a day here in America and let’s see how long he will live on our pity on him. One more thing, why can’t someone on earth just beat the crap out of him? You know put him into a hospital for a while. Then, beat him again if he files another suit.
They should make him do community service, in a dry cleaners.
Are they giving out awards for biggest douche bag of the year? I think this fellow deserves it.
i say we all just pitch in and get this guy the pile of golden poop trophy. who’s in?
And people wonder why our legal system is mocked across the globe. It’s not about who’s right or who’s wrong, it’s about who knows more loopholes.
@Doofio: You have a citation for this?
1. We aren’t ‘mocked’ across the globe. You would like to think so because it works for your bias.
2. This case has nothing to do with loopholes. He correctly lost in the trial court. His appeal likely has nothing to do with the merits of the case. This is a good thing. As screwed up as you think the system is appeals were based on the merits of the underlying case, as opposed to law and procedure, the system would be far more innefficient and abused then it is already.
I got to doing some more research on this guy. Apparently, during his divorce, the courts fined him 12k for “creating unnecessary litigation and threatening both Rhonda VanLowe and her lawyer with disbarment.”
The guy broke down in tears over the pants. Over pants. This guy needs an evaulation of the psychiatric kind. That or he’s recieving advice from J.T., which still warrants a psychiatric eval.
I had a pair of pants I really loved too.
Where is Jesse Jackson while this is all going down?
i bet that the new judge owes him a favor
Accept the replacement for another pair of pants. You are entitled to nothing more, you twit.
I really wish I hadn’t stumbled across this article. Now, my day is ruined. The continuation of this never-ending saga is infuriating. I feel truly sorry for the owners of the dry cleaners who are on the verge of losing everything simply due to the persistance of an ego-driven attorney who is clearly taking advantage of his power and knowledge of our (broken and misintended) criminal justice system. And, it is reprehensible that a court has agreed to hear his appeal.
@Scoobatz: Why has this ruined your day? It doesn’t affect you in any way. You should seek help.
Further, I still don’t understand how this guy taken advantage of his ‘power’ and somehow abused the criminal justice system. First, its not criminal, its civil. Second, he didn’t take advantage of anything. It would be taking advantage if he somehow was able to succeed in winning against the dry cleaners based on something other than the merits. He clearly hasn’t done that. He has lost. All he has done is cost himself money. That doesn’t seem to me to be taking advantage of his power.
Lets not forget that this guy is not powerful attorney. He’s an administrative law judge. Consider the judge that does speeding tickets in district court. Now subtract.. A lot. Not that very smart and competent attorneys aren’t administrative law judges.. But just because you are an ALJ doesn’t mean you are a good lawyer.
When you go to your law school reunion and say that you are an ALJ none of your classmates say “Oh, Wow, that’s hot!”
“Those are prescription pants!”
Srsly: Can’t the judge look at his history of clear abuse of the legal system (this case, the previous pants case, the case involving his divorce) and enjoin him from filing new lawsuits?
@marsneedsrabbits: I was thinking the same thing, basically can’t the defendant’s attorney seek a mental evaluation? But ultimately if the court decides the case has sufficient merit to proceed, it doesn’t matter.
Must have been a really boring day at the courthouse for them to entertain this guy and what has to be one of the most inept civil suits I’ve ever seen.
Jesus, this man’s out of control.
Everything I’ve heard about loser pays makes is seem like a slam dunk to me as something that would clear up a lot of problems with our legal system.
Maybe he’s appealing his damaged reputation…. you know, the one that he damaged himself.
After this appeal farce is over, can somebody please strip him of his US Citizenship and banish him to another country that desperately needs to increase their population?
Seriously, some guys really like to bring shame upon our country and make a complete mockery of whatever’s left of our justice system.
While this may be a lot more headache for the defendants, this can be an opportunity for a higher court ruling that will effectively stamp out these frivolous lawsuits and benefit more people.
Usually appellate courts severely limit the amount of new evidence allowed and they usually prefer to stand on the previous ruling. The appellate judge likely only agreed to hear it so the ruling will apply not only to the lower court’s jurisdiction but the higher court’s as well. This in the end can only help small businesses in an even larger area.
can i have this guy’s email address? i want to ask him why he’s such a ridiculous asshole.
He may have mental health issues.
OMG CONSUMERIST COMMENTERS WILL FIGHT ABOUT ANYTHING.
@bria:
They will not
Loser Pays: Consumers lose more power! If one side has lots of money, they can run up the expenses to bankrupt the plantiff. No way that works except to suck power away from people who need it.
This is one lawsuit, it is not representative, it is an anomoly. That’s why it’s such big news. It is really hard to get any award out of anyone.
Remember:
McDonald’s Coffee lawsuit was fully warranted and the award was lowered after the jury.
Winnebago lawsuit (cruise control) NEVER HAPPENED.
Don’t be sheep: the price of a free society is some idiots trying to do some idiotic things. they generally get caught trying, and sometimes get away with it, preserving your right to a court system to protect your rights.
The
They were nice pants after all.
This is just the DC court of appeals, so I don’t think it’s earthshattering that they are hearing this guy’s appeal. He is obviously alleging judicial error of some sort. I assume he’ll lose but generally you have this right.
“The idea that a pure ‘loser pays’ rule really works is pushed only by those who believe corporations should never ever be sued.”
I guess that settles it then.
Why isn’t this tagged Bad Coonsumer?
The thing that burns me the most about this whole this was that the guy was a FREAKING JUDGE!! He of all people should know how jacked up our leagal system is because of frivolous b.s. case like this. I am glad he lost his job and I hope this time they stick him with the court costs when he is denied.
Since it’s an appeal, he can’t bring in new evidence (unless DC allows it). I’m hoping, praying even, that the defendants find something to counter sue him on for millions of dollars. Also, he needs to be dis-barred.
@katiat325: right, this is an appeal asking the court to remand for a new trial – no countersuits, but if there’s a new trial, I presume that can be done.
Whet gets me is civil suits like this hurt legitimate consumer civil suits, and diminishes the efforts of others to hold companies responsible.
He originally sued the cleaners for $57 million dollars, and then dropped it to $54 million (whew…. that’s more reasonable.) The defendants offered to settle with him for $12,000 – and he refused. Over a Pair. Of. Pants.
Can he be ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation? I’m thinking there’s a mental health issue here…
I figure that he’s shot every other chance at a reasonable job down the tubes and this is last chance at avoiding the poor house…:-)
Roy Pearson is making us look bad. And by “us”, I mean “humanity”.
The fact that this case was heard the FIRST time is laughable, the fact the appeal is being heard makes me completely disrespect the judicial system.