Legal News

The Great American . . . . Laptop Suit?

By Dan Slater

It’s official. The infamous drycleaning flap — dubbed here The Great American Pants Suit — has become the benchmark for audacious litigation in this, our litigation nation. Have you been wronged? Need to get the attention of your antagonist (or the media)? Don’t fret, just sue — for exactly $54 million. (HT: the Journal’s Biz Tech blog.)

Thanks to fomer admininstrative law judge Roy Pearson, that’s the magic number. Pearson, who sued unsuccessfully Custom Dry Cleaners last year for allegedly losing his pants, seems to have inspired Raelynn Campbell (pictured). Unlike Pearson’s crusade to make himself whole, however, Campbell’s plight, at least initially, seems to have found a more sympathetic public, at least if this early media report is any indication.

Here are the essentials, according to the MSNBC report: In 2006, Campbell bought a new laptop from Best Buy for about $1,100. The clerk pitched her a $300 extended warranty. She agreed. The machine’s on/off switch broke a year later. She brought it back, relieved she’d purchased the warranty. Best Buy told her repairs would take 2 to 6 weeks. But the repairs never happened. After weeks of back-and-forthing, Best Buy finally admitted they lost her laptop, which contained, she alleges, thousands of dollars worth of music and thousands of irreplaceable photos, as well as personal information such as tax returns. Best Buy’s best offer of a $1,100 refund and $500 store credit apparently didn’t alleviate Campbell’s pain.

So in November Campbell filed a suit pro se in Wash., D.C., Superior Court — for $54 million. Campbell admits she mimicked the plaintiff in the Great American Pants Suit in an effort to attract media attention. Best Buy came back offering $2,500, in addition to the refund and store credit, but Campbell said no.

“I can’t help but wonder how many other people have had their computer stolen (or lost) by Best Buy and then been bullied into accepting lowball compensation offers for replacement expenses and no compensation for identity theft protection expenses,” said Campbell.

The Law Blog is tracking down someone from Best Buy to comment on the suit. We’ll let you know if we hear anything back.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 14, 2008 (boomark / email).