If you thought the Texas man suing a restaurant for running out of soup constituted a frivolous lawsuit, then you would be right. But, here’s another one, which has just been resolved after six-and-a-half years in various Indiana-based courts. A man sued another man for $30,000, after buying a used printer from him for $40 off of Craigslist. Because of a quirk in Indiana law, the litigation over this case went on for years, at great distress for the defendant.
According to the Courier-Post, the plaintiff in this saga is Gersh Zavodnik, who often files lawsuits like this one, and represents himself in court. In 2009, he bought the printer in question from Doug Costello, but then accused Costello “of falsely advertising a malfunctioning printer with missing parts, and pocketing Zavodnik’s money.” Despite Costello’s attempts to resolve the issue, Zavodnik sued him in Marion County, Indiana’s small claims court, asking for $6,000 in damages. When Zavodnik lost because he had thrown away the printer, he filed an appeal in Marion Superior Court, and then appealed that dismissal.
Crucially, he also sent Costello paperwork asking him to admit that he was liable for $30,000 in damages, then $300,000, then $600,000. Under Indiana law, if the recipient doesn’t respond to such requests, then it’s understood as an admission. This is therefore why a judge found Costello liable for a little more than $30,000 in damages in March 2015, citing a Supreme Court precedent about responding to admissions requests within 30 days.
Now it was Costello’s turn to appeal, and the next judge ruled in his favor based on this reasoning:
“He did not send requests claiming $30,000 and $300,000 and $600,000 in damages because he believes those figures are legally justified and thought Costello might agree,” Vaidik wrote. “He sent them because he hoped Costello would not respond, rendering the matters admitted…”
But this matter isn’t officially over; there’s one more hearing on whether the case should be dismissed. While Zavodnik has said in the past that he files lawsuits in order to “seek justice from people who, he said, stole money from him,” this particular attempt, over a $40 printer, cost Costello $12,000 in legal fees. The lesson here seems to be to not sell stuff on Craigslist, to always be up on legal deadlines and statutes of limitations, and maybe to never leave the house or interact with people ever again.
(via Courier-Post)