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Birmingham Parent magazine

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Can You Say, "Frivolous Lawsuit?"

I'm trying to teach my children to pick their battles, and I'm trying to take that advice myself. Since they are teenagers, I'm also trying to teach them not to act like babies. It gets hard when adults in positions of authority get away with acting this way themselves.

Have you heard about the Washington, D. C. judge suing his dry cleaner for $54 million over a lost pair of pants? Today is "day two" in the case of the missing pants. The judge claims he's suing over the sign in the cleaners that says "satisfaction guaranteed" rather than his lost pants, for which he was offered $2,000 by the cleaners to replace the lost pants initially. And now the cleaners' have presented the judge with a pair of pants they say are his, and the judge says they are not.

Even if the dry cleaners never found the pair of pants, does this lawsuit have any true merit? And why should it cost the cleaners thousands of dollars to defend themselves? What message does it send to discourage, or encourage, MORE frivolous lawsuits that clog our legal system and make suits with merit take forever? And bottom line for ME, what does it tell my kids about adults and our legal system?

Give me a break. Lost pants are hardly worth crying over, and certainly not worth $54 million.

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