US Man Loses $54 Million Trousers Claim

(Source: BBC News, Monday, 25 June 2007) A US man has lost a $54m (£27m) claim against a South Korean dry-cleaning firm which lost a pair of his trousers.

Roy Pearson, a judge of administrative law, claimed that Custom Cleaners had violated the Consumer Protection Act.

By refusing to pay him $1,000 (£500) after losing his trousers, they failed to honour a pledge to provide "Satisfaction Guaranteed", he argued.

But a Washington judge dismissed the case, which drew international attention, awarding the cleaners costs.

Legal groups have said the case, which has dragged on for two years and involved thousands of hours of legal investigative work, has damaged the image of the US judicial system.

'American nightmare'

The National Labor Relations Board has called for Mr Pearson to be disbarred so that he can no longer serve as a judge.

His case began in 2005 when Mr Pearson took several suits to his local dry-cleaners in Washington to have some alterations made.

When he returned two days later, a pair of trousers was missing.

The South Korean family running the dry-cleaners, the Chungs, said they found the missing trousers a few days later and tried to return them but Mr Pearson insisted they were not his.

His multimillion dollar calculations for damages included the 1,400 hours he says he spent preparing the case.

According to the Washington Post, he also added the cost of hiring a car every weekend to enable him to drive to an alternative dry-cleaners for the next 10 years.

The Chungs' lawyer, Chris Manning, said that the protracted case had transformed the family's American dream into "the American nightmare", according to the AP.

He said the family, who own three dry-cleaners in the Washington area, were considering returning to South Korea.

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No charges over power cut death but Clark attacks Mercury

NZ Herald, New Zealand, 12 June 2007--Prime Minister Helen Clark continued to attack Mercury Energy today, despite police deciding they would not charge anybody over the death of Folole Muliaga.

Mrs Muliaga, 44, died on May 29, just hours after the electricity to her home and oxygen machine was disconnected by Mercury Energy, the retail arm of state-owned Mighty River Power.

Mrs Muliaga's family have welcomed the decision not to lay criminal charges over her death but may still look at civil proceedings.

Miss Clark said in Melbourne today that she also accepted the police decision but that Mercury Energy had behaved badly

"The police look at criminal responsibility. That is the judgement they make," she said at the commissioning of the navy's new ship, HMNZS Canterbury.

"What the public of New Zealand knows is that Mercury Energy behaved badly and when the Electricity Commission puts out guidelines, companies are expected to follow them, particularly state owned enterprises which have a social responsibility mandate under law."

Counties-Manukau Police said in a brief statement that there was no evidence to justify any charge against Mercury Energy, their contractors or staff members.

Mercury ordered the power to be cut because of an overdue power bill of $168.40.

Mrs Muliaga's death will now be referred to the Auckland Coroner.

The Government was now reviewing the law which directed state owned enterprises to behave in a socially responsibly way.

"It is likely we will want reporting against that (law) in the future," Miss Clark said.

She believed there was provision in the guidelines for social responsibility.

"My understanding is that there hasn't been active reporting against that in the past. That is not to say there hasn't been social responsibility exercised but it has not been actively reported on. That is what we are seeking to change," Miss Clark said.

The Muliaga family had urged that no criminal charges be laid, saying nothing would be achieved by the police investigation into her death and it would be unfair to prosecute the contractor.

"I am not surprised. It's what I expected as a lawyer because of the high standard of proof needed for criminal liability," family lawyer Olinda Woodroffe said.
However, she said the family would be pursuing civil action over Mrs Muliaga's death.

"I'm willing to talk to any parties about settlement. Court would be an absolute last resort."

Ms Woodroffe said the police decision not to prosecute had no impact on the family's complaint over the police treatment of family members during the investigation.

"They are completely separate issues," she said.

Family spokesman Brenden Sheehan said he was pleased for the contractor who cut the supply that police had decided not to prosecute. He said as part of the Muliaga family's healing process, it could move forward knowing no one else would suffer.

Mr Sheehan said the family was waiting for the outcome of the criminal inquiry before pursuing other legal avenues. He said Mr Muliaga was going to have to give up work to look after the children and the family needed to consider its future security.

Mighty River Power chief executive Doug Heffernan said he was pleased at the police decision, but admitted Mrs Muliaga's death had raised important issues and was reviewing the way it dealt with customers with medical dependencies or in financial hardship.

"Mercury Energy is committed to working with government regulatory and welfare agencies to develop improved procedures so we can identify and assist vulnerable customers more effectively."

Who is to blame

Debate has raged throughout New Zealand since her death, as the public and politicians sought to establish who was to blame for the tragedy.

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Jail, $25,000 bill for plant smuggler

An Auckland man has been jailed for nine months for the illegal importation of aquatic plants and aquarium equipment.

Henry Tan was sentenced in North Shore District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to 36 charges of bringing in plants and equipment from Singapore. He was also ordered to pay $25,000 towards finding and killing the plants.

Judge John Cadenhead said the case was serious offending against the Biosecurity Act and the impact could have been catastrophic for the country.

Greg Reid, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's compliance and enforcement investigations manager, said after the hearing that it was "one of the most serious cases of deliberate offending I have seen".

"Some may argue that it is just some plants but that doesn't stack up when you look at some of the biosecurity issues we have had to confront in recent times, like didymophenia geminata [rock snot], varroa and fire ants."

In Tan's case, MAF commissioned a "delimiting survey" to identify the plants and minimise the risk of them spreading in North Island waterways.


Tan got his brother to post him plants from Singapore that he knew were unavailable here, declaring them as gifts.

Only plants listed in MAF's import standards were allowed to enter the country. Tan did not hold a permit to import aquatic plants and his home was not an approved containment facility.

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