U.S. court rejects appeal by ex-judge seeking compensation for lost trousers

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. court on Thursday rejected an appeal by a former judge who asked for US$54 million in compensation for a pair of trousers lost at a dry cleaner.
"I was just told by my lawyer that everything is fine," said Chung Jin-nam, the
Korean-American owner of the dry cleaner.
The court made its decision after several hearings since September when Roy L.
Pearson filed the appeal to a local court here, challenging a lower court ruling
against him.
Chung said after winning the case last year that he will forgive Pearson, though
the former judge had been his 'nightmare' for two years.
Pearson accused Chung of failing to meet the store policy of "Satisfaction
Guaranteed" as posted on a store sign and sought daily fines of $1,500 under the
city's consumer protection law.
"A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to mean that
a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's unreasonable demands or to accede
to demands that the merchant has reasonable grounds to dispute," the lower court
ruling said last year.
"I feel emptied. I don't think I have won. Everybody has lost," Chung said. "I
wish this kind of exhausting thing would not happen again."
Pearson was fired by the Washington D.C. administration last year, just months
after he lost his suit against Chung amid media criticism for his excessive
compensation claim.
Chung said he is trying to forget about the past years while serving at an
association of Korean- American elderly. "I am considering starting a new job
next year after taking a rest until the end of this year."
Last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform said the
the case proved the need to repair the American legal system, saying, "This case
only proves that the system is truly broken and in bad need of repair."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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