The former city judge who unsuccessfully sued his dry cleaners for $54 million over a missing pair of pants took up the cause again Wednesday in an appeals court.
Roy L. Pearson Jr. argued before the three-judge panel, more than a year after D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff rejected his claim that Pearson was defrauded by a “satisfaction guaranteed” sign in the store.
“As a matter of law, the satisfaction guaranteed claim is perpetuating a fraud,” Pearson said. “It’s a tendency to mislead or deceive.”
The dispute began in May 2005, when Pearson claimed the cleaners lost his pants and then tried to give him another pair after an alteration. Soo and Jin Chung, the owners of Custom Cleaners, maintained they tried to return a pair of Pearson’s pants but that he refused to take them.
In finding against Pearson last year, Bartnoff ruled Pearson never proved the Chungs produced the wrong pants or that the owners violated the spirit of their sign.
Three D.C. appeals court judges questioned Pearson on Wednesday about whether he thought the sign offered an unconditional guarantee to whatever damages he believed were appropriate.
The appellate judges, Phyllis Thompson, Noel Anketell Kramer and Michael W. Farrell, also asked whether the South Korean immigrants who owned the business made a good faith effort to accommodate Pearson. Pearson maintained that his lawsuit has merits and that he was suing not only for himself but on behalf of every customer who saw the “satisfaction guaranteed” sign.
Shortly before trial, the couple offered $12,000 to settle the case but Pearson declined.
The appeals court is expected to return a decision within two to four months.
