Monday, June 25, 2007

Judge's Pants Suit Backfires

On the news today they told us that the Washington D.C. judge that sued the dry cleaners over the loss of a pair of pants lost his case. With the ruling in favor of the defendants, the plaintiff was ordered to pay the court costs and attorney fees. After their earlier offer to settle for roughly $12,000, I'm sure they are relieved that their offer was rejected.

I really think he got off lightly. He should have known better than to file such a frivolous lawsuit over a pair of lost pants. His request for over $54 million in damages was outrageous, and as a judge, he surely knew this. In my opinion, he should have had further consequences simply for filing an obviously frivolous suit.

This case should serve to show us that as business owners, we should be aware of the local laws concerning customer satisfaction. And if we feel we are in the right, let the disgruntled customer take us to court. Don't be intimidated by the consumer's status. It doesn't change the law one bit.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well said! I recently had an advertising agency for a major Supermarket take me to court for advertising Which they falsely claim was delivered. I stood my ground even though my business partners were caving in under the immense pressure they were throwing at us, but my argument was simple, they didnt produce our advertisement and I wasnt going to pay. I have to admit I was very scared myself at one point but they were simply testing me and backed down at the last moment. Im now in a position to take them to court for wasting my time!