Un-suitable for the job?

Roy Pearson, the D.C. administrative law judge who sued a dry cleaning outfit for $54 million, may have lost more than his favorite pair of tailored slacks.

According to the Washington Post, Pearson should receive a letter this week that starts the process which could put him out of a job.

The letter, sent yesterday by the city’s Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges, pointed to Pearson’s work as an ALJ for the past two years as well as his failed lawsuit against Custom Cleaners.

Pearson gets 15 days to rebut the letter and can seek a hearing before the commission, which meets in September.

Post reporter Marc Fisher reported last week on his blog that the commission had doubts about granting Pearson, whose initial term ended in April, a 10-year term on the bench. (Pearson has not been hearing cases since his term expired.)

According to Fisher, the panel debated what role a judge’s behavior outside the courtroom should play in assessing his qualifications.

Put another way, he’s probably not going to be the poster boy for the next District of Columbia Bar Association newsletter. But was his conduct outside his job so outrageous and despicable that he should be removed from the bench?

Respond away…

-LIZ FARMER, Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer