Pacific Workers Comp Law Center - January 2020

WhoWears the Pants? Lady Justice!

3 Positive New Ye START THE YE

Resolutions are a fun way to start the new year! But have you

noticed how many are actually accomplished? More often than not, individuals will choose lofty goals that get lost in the shuffle of the year’s misadventures. To

ensure you don’t fall to the same fate, here are some small but positive New Year’s resolutions you can achieve!

How One Judge Lost a Frivolous Lawsuit and His Dignity

One Positive Action Every Day Acts of kindness will go a long way for your family, friends, and peers. They don’t have to be grand; even something as small as holding the door open for someone or buying someone’s coffee for them can make their day. For your friends and family, you can try encouraging or taking an interest in their hobbies to lift their spirits. Just checking in on them will be a huge benefit because it shows you care. Small acts like these can be done weekly or even daily.

After losing an article of clothing from a dry cleaner, most would say “c’est la vie” and move on. At most, someone might leave a bad review and ask for a few dollars to cover the loss, but for one administrative law judge, that wasn’t enough. He decided instead to launch an all-out legal battle. Roy Pearson, a Washington, D.C., judge at the time, sought $54 million to cover the loss of his pants after his dry cleaner lost them. He argued that the “same-day service” sign located in the window of the dry cleaners meant that the company had to provide same-day service. However, Pearson never specified a specific time he needed his clothes returned. He also insisted that the “satisfaction guaranteed” sign meant that the cleaners had to satisfy a customer’s wishes without limit. Based on those arguments, he claimed the signs were fraudulent. After the initial allegations, the dry cleaners scoured their business to find the pants and, to their credit, found the judge’s trousers untarnished. Even so, Pearson argued that he didn’t need to prove the pants were lost or damaged to satisfy his “satisfaction guaranteed” claim. Unfortunately for the judge, the court found his position to be ridiculous and ordered him to pay the dry cleaner’s attorneys’ fees. In response, Pearson sought that his own attorneys’ fees be covered to oppose this motion. In the end, Pearson did pay the dry cleaner’s legal fees, but the case isn’t the only thing he lost. The verdict also cost the judge his job and any semblance of professional dignity. Ten years after the case closed, the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility sought a 90-day suspension. As the board put it, Pearson “failed to conduct an objective appraisal of the legal merits of his position. He made and continues to make arguments that no reasonable attorney would think had even a faint hope of success on the legal merits.” From a legal standpoint, we’d call this judge’s behavior “dissatisfaction guaranteed.”

Simple Pancak

Everyone should be able to make pancakes without a boxed mix. This recipe is no-frills fantastic and can probably be made without so much as a trip to the grocery store.

Ingredients •

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1 3/4 cups milk

• 1/4 tsp salt • 1 tbsp sugar, optional

Unsalted butter or canola oil, to grease skillet

Directions 1. Heat a griddle or skillet to medium-low.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (including sugar if you like a sweeter pancake). In a separate bowl, beat eggs into milk. Gently stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ones. Mix only until flour is moistened. Clumps are fine. 3. Add some butter or oil to the skillet. If the butter foams or oil shimmers, the temperature is correct. Pour in a pancake of any size, cooking until bubbles form, about 2–4 minutes. 4. Flip and cook other side for 2–4 minutes. Serve warm.

Inspired byThe NewYorkTimes

2 • www.PacificWorkers.com

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