Posted on 06/06/2016 10:56:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Next time you innocently put something up for sale on Craigslist, remember the tale of Doug Costello.
As the Indianapolis Star explains, Costello sold a $40 printer in 2009 to Indianapolis resident Gersh Zavodnik.
The 54-year-old Zavodnik claims it didn’t work and soon initiated legal action.
It’s something he’s very good at, having been described by the Indiana Supreme Court as a “prolific, abusive litigant” who has brought dozens of suits against both companies and individuals.
In this case, Zavodnik actually won a $30,000 judgment at one point against Costello, though it has since been tossed.
In the meantime, Costello has spent about $12,000 in legal fees — and the case isn’t quite over yet.
The $30,000 judgment came when Zavodnik, representing himself, sent Costello, who was then representing himself as well, paperwork asking him to admit he was liable for $30,000 for breach of contract.
Then, he sent two more such requests, one for $300,000 and another for $600,000, and Costello missed a 30-day window to respond.
He also missed a court hearing, and the trial judge said he had no choice to but to impose the penalty.
At that point, Costello lawyered up, and an appeals court declared that the $30,000 penalty “had no basis in reality.”
Now, it’s back to the trial court to determine if the case should be dismissed “based on Zavodnik’s repeated, flagrant, and continuing failure to comply with Indiana’s rules of procedure.”
Costello’s description of his current situation? He said he feels like he’s in the “twilight zone.”
Following back to the original article...
we find...
“According to court records, Zavodnik initially filed a lawsuit in Marion County Small Claims Court, where he asked for the maximum damages of $6,000. Zavodnik lost because he had thrown away the evidence (the printer), court records said.”
What do you want to bet that the printer worked just fine.
Wonder why so many judges recused themselves
This guy is from the Ukraine is probably some ex mafia guy.
no one is talking about the real problem in this case:
insane u.s. immigration laws.
you end up with Mafia guys who sue for half a million over a used printer, you get somali Muslims who chase your son down at a San Jose convention center.
Yes, failure to respond means you’ve fully accepted liability and the plaintiff can receive a default judgement on it.
Frivolous lawsuits are nothing less than legal extortion.
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