A D.C. man, Roy Pearson, is suing a drycleaners for losing his pants - to the tune of $65M.  No, the pants were not made of gold.  They were, well, just pants.  Apparently, Pearson brought in several suits to be altered at a D.C. drycleaner owned by the Chungs - immigrants from South Korea.  The Chungs lost one of his pairs of pants and he demanded $1,000 for the price of the suit.  However, a week later, the Chungs found his pants.  Pearson didn't care and decided to sue, even though the Chungs offered him $3,000, then $4,600 and finally $12,000 to settle the matter.

So, how can a pair of pants cost $65M?  Read on - you won't believe it.  Pearson, who by the way is a D.C. Judge (I told you that you wouldn't believe it), claimed that because of the bad service he received from the Chungs, he had to rent a car every weekend for ten years to drive his clothes to another dry cleaners - at a cost of $15,000.  But we're still not even close to $65M…

Pearson is interpreting D.C.'s consumer protection law literally and has calculated that the Chungs owe him $1,500 per day, for 12 violations over 1,200 days for himself and two other customers that experienced similar problems.  Why?  Because a sign on the Chung's wall says "satisfaction guaranteed" and "same day service".

Pearson, who is representing himself, seems to think he's a pretty smart guy.  However, the last laugh may be on him.  His frivolous lawsuit has gotten the attention of many in the D.C. area and nationwide.  His position as a judge is an appointed one and it's very possible that he won't be re-appointed, if he is even allowed to continue at all.  The Chungs have said that they plan to move back to South Korea.  Pearson will get his day in court this June; let’s hope he gets a day or two (or more) in jail.