The following story tells of how opportunists work. A judge who is well versed every legal sense decides to throw some of the legal weight around on poor and unsuspecting hardworking migrant workers.

For a lost pants in a dry cleaner, a judge is suing the owners US$67million (RM200million). Not bad if you asked me. Fact was, the dry cleaner has lost the judge’s pants once, so I don’t know who the idiot is. The dry cleaner who keeps losing his customers’ pants or the judge who had once bitten twice ferocious? Knowing that the place had poor customer service, he should have brought his business elsewhere.

For losing a pants, it would caused mental anguish to the extent of US$67million? Now, here is a real business opportunity for me. I will go around drying out all the dry cleaners around the world. 

The original version of the news can be found here.

WHAT started off as a US$10 ($15) dry cleaning bill for a pair of trousers has ballooned into a US$67m ($100m) lawsuit.

A judge from Washington DC, is taking a dry-cleaning company to court for allegedly losing a pair of pants he wanted to wear on his first day on the bench.

The plaintiff, Mr Roy Pearson, said in his court papers that he has endured ‘mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort’, reported ABC news.

Among other things, the judge is suing the dry cleaners for 10years of weekend car rental to transport his dry cleaning to another store.

And defending themselves against the suit – for two years running – are Korean immigrants Jin Nam Chung and Soo Ki Chung and their son, who own Custom Cleaners and two other dry cleaning shops in Fort Lincoln.

People are laughing at what they consider the comedy of it all, for the civil trial has the scope of a John Grisham courtroom thriller and the societal importance of a traffic ticket.

Everybody except the Chungs, who have spent thousands of dollars defending themselves.

‘It’s affecting us financially because of all the lawyers’ fees,’ Mr Chung told ABC news through an interpreter.

‘For two years, we’ve been paying lawyer fees. We’ve got bad credit and secondly, it has been difficult mentally and physically because of the level of stress.’

Mrs Chung broke down in tears.

She said: ‘I would have never thought it would drag on this long.’ ‘I don’t want to live here any more. I just want to go home to Korea.’ Mr Chung said: ‘If anything happened to our customers’ clothing, we would always compensate them accordingly.’

The problems date back to 2002.

Mr Pearson said in court papers that he took a pair of pants into Custom Cleaners in Fort Lincoln that year, and the pants were lost.

The cleaners gave Mr Pearson a $150 cheque for a new pair of pants. Three years later, Mr Pearson returned to Custom Cleaners and his trousers went missing again. It was in May 2005 when Mr Pearson was about to begin his new job as an administrative judge.

Naturally, he wanted to wear a nice outfit to his first day of work. He sent them a pair of trousers for alterations and they went missing.

First, Mr Pearson demanded US$1,150 for a new suit. Lawyers were hired, legal wrangling ensued and eventually the Chungs offered MrPearson US$3,000 in compensation.

Mr Pearson did not budge. Then they offered him US$4,600 and still, he did not give in. Finally, they offered US$12,000 for the missing grey trousers with the red and blue stripes. MrPearson said no.

With neither satisfaction guaranteed nor his prized grey pants, MrPearson upped the ante considerably.

The judge went to the lawbooks. Citing consumer protection laws, he claimed he was entitled to US$1,500 per violation, per day.

Ironically, less than a week after Mr Pearson dropped off the missing trousers in 2005, Mrs Chung found them. She said that she tried to return them to Mr Pearson but he said they were the wrong pants.

The Chungs’ attorney, Mr Chris Manning, said the receipt tag on the pants ‘exactly matches the receipt that MrPearson has.’

Mr Manning is angry with Mr Pearson, saying the judge has terrorised the Chungs for spite.

‘They came to the US hoping for the American dream,’ MrManning said, ‘and Roy Pearson has made it a nightmare.’

Tags: America, Roy Pearson, United States, Washington DC