Judge in pants case loses bid to keep job

July 29, 2009|associated press

WASHINGTON - A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Roy L. Pearson Jr., the former District of Columbia judge whose previous $54 million lawsuit against a dry-cleaning business generated international headlines.

Pearson filed the later suit in May 2008, alleging that the District of Columbia government broke the law in refusing to reappoint him to a 10-year term as an administrative law judge. The decision came after news reports about Pearson’s lawsuit against Custom Cleaners, which he said had misplaced a pair of his pants.

The district’s Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges cited Pearson’s temperament and prudence on the bench in not giving him the job.

In his lawsuit filed in the district’s federal court, Pearson alleged the commission was retaliating against him for exposing internal problems to the D.C. Council and for filing his lawsuit against Custom Cleaners.

In a 37-page opinion issued last Thursday, US District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle rejected all of Pearson’s arguments. She called Pearson’s lawsuit against Custom Cleaners a “personal vendetta.’’

Pearson also lost his lawsuit against the owners of Custom Cleaners, which closed under the weight of legal bills. He could not be located for comment yesterday.