WASHINGTON, D.C. — Roy Pearson, the District of Columbia Administrative judge who filed suit against his drycleaner for $54 million last year, is at it again. Having lost both his lawsuit and his job as a result of the alleged loss of a single pair of pants, Pearson is suing to get his job back.A judicial commission rejected Pearson’s reappointment to a second 10-year term last year after a long review. Sources told the Washington Examiner that he was fired because his behavior in the case and in his own courtroom showed a lack of judicial judgment and temperament.
“He lost his job because he proved he did not have the legal requirements to fill the job, namely a judicial temperament,” says Darren McKinney, spokesman for the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA).
Now, Pearson claims he suffered “humiliation” and “emotional distress” in a new lawsuit seeking reinstatement and at least $825,000 in damages. Pearson claims in a 52-page filing that he was wrongfully dismissed as a result of his exposing corruption in D.C.’s Office of Administrative Hearings.
Pearson seeks compensatory damages of $75,000 from the District and the five commissioners responsible for his unfavorable review, plus punitive damages of “no less than” 10 times that amount from the defendants. He again is acting as his own counsel in the case.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled against Pearson in his case against Custom Cleaners in June 2007, awarding him none of the $54 million he sought for an allegedly missing pair of pants. She also charged Pearson with the defendants’ court costs.
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