An Update On Judge Butthead

A couple of days ago, Deadspot sent me a link to a BBC article about Judge Roy Pearson. He's now "About-To-Be-Former Judge Roy Pearson."

Here's the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7094387.stm

If you'll recall, he sued the cleaning business of Soo and Jin Chung, in Washington, D.C. for $54 Million for the alleged loss of a pair of pants, citing their sign promising "Satisfaction Guaranteed." This was down from his original demand of $67 Million. Though the Chungs found the pants, offered to replace the pants, and even offered thousands of dollars to settle the suit, they ended up spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees fighting the lawsuit. I posted about it this summer.

He ended up losing the suit. The court noted that he'd been sanctioned $12,000 for dragging out his divorce proceedings a couple of years before.

The Chungs moved to recover their legal costs ($83,000) from Pearson, but dropped it when fundraising websites recovered their costs. The Chungs, unlike Pearson, aren't dicks. Though I kind of wish he'd been fined anyway.

According to a Wikipedia articlehis salary as judge was $100,512 a year. It's ironic that the last settlement offer that the Chungs made was $12,000-- the same amount he had to pay his ex-wife for being an asshole in their divorce. Deadspot has a brilliant theory: All it takes is just don't be a dick. ("That's ALL IT TAKES!") If Pearson had settled for the $12,000 from the Chungs (a ridiculous settlement, but a settlement, nonetheless), he could have paid off his divorce settlement, would not have consequently been an international laughingstock and would still have his job. But he chose to be a dick. And now he's out a job. As one of my favorite bloggers, Skyler's Dad has stated in the past, "In general, the universe is self-adjusting." The Chungs still have their business-- it's probably thriving due to the unexpected publicity and general public empathy, Pearson's ex-wife has an extra $12,000, and Pearson is about to be pounding the pavement, looking for a new job, with every possible employer knowing what an idiot he is. It all ended up as it should be.