This is a great story to use in a high level student lesson! A DC Judge whose suit pants were lost by a dry clearners sued the dry cleaners and finally after two years his lawsuit was thrown out and he was required to pay the legal and court fees of the dry cleaners also! Take a look at this link: “DC Judge loses“.
My wife had a similar problem with a pair of her pants. In her case the pants just shrunk and the store paid for replacement pants when we showed them the receipt. But this story shows how absurd the US legal system can be. The couple who owned the dry cleaners at one time offered to pay the judge $12,000 to settle the case. His whole suit cost about $1,100 but he refused. I can understand his initial discontent but to ask for $54,000,000 is outrageous. Surely “satisfaction” should not exceed the cost of replacement by so much money. There ought to be a law….to prevent such an abuse of the legal system. And by a judge…there should be even a higher penalty! Well, this case is not over yet. The judge may appeal and he is up for reappointment to the bench. He may lose his job also!
This one could be a lot of fun to talk about with a student. I will use it sometime soon.
Al Bartle (Smith’s School of English – Okamoto)
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