In Latest Loss for $54M Pants Suit Judge, Fed’l Court Dismisses Termination Claim

It appears that much-publicized litigation brought by an administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., over a dry cleaner's alleged loss of his suit trousers and the jurist's subsequent loss of his job may finally be nearing a conclusion.

After generating international headlines with a May 2008 lawsuit that sought $54 million in damages from a local dry cleaner over his missing trousers, Roy Pearson was not reappointed to a 10-year term as an administrative law judge. And now a federal court has dismissed his wrongful termination claim against the District of Columbia, reports the Washington Post.

Pearson contended that a refusal by the District's Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges to reappoint him violated the first amendment, because it amounted to retaliation against him for expressing his views in the lawsuit and for bringing internal district issues to the attention of D.C. government officials, the newspaper recounts.

But U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle of the District of Columbia disagreed. Characterizing the pants suit as a personal vendetta, she upheld the decision not to reappoint him in a written opinion Thursday and also rejected Pearson's argument that he was not given an adequate opportunity to fight the effective dismissal from his job, according to the Post.

Pearson could not be located by the newspaper for potential comment.

Earlier coverage:

ABAJournal.com: "Will Ex-Judge Press On With $54M Pants Suit Case? Supreme Court Is Last Resort"