He lost his pants, and then he lost his composure, but neither of those things got Roy Pearson $67 million. What it did get him was a sizable chunk legal fees, and, of course, the coveted spot as Metroblogging DC’s Grinch of the Year. Pearson, if you were living under a rock this summer, sued a local dry cleaners when they lost a pair of his pants. Normally, no giant thing. The problem here is that he sued for $67M. Yeah, with six zeroes. For a pair of his pants. Talk about your frivolous lawsuits…

Anyhow, Pantsgate turned into a national news story, and as the case went on, the more and more ridiculous things got, naturally. Pearson’s court case provided many moments of hilarity ^[1] to the DC area, but the Dry Cleaners Shut Down ^[2] this fall, as a result of all the legal travail. I can’t say I blame them, after that kind of harassment, I wouldn’t know what to do either, except close up shop and head home.

So, congratulations Roy Pearson for making a mockery of our courts, the entirety of the legal profession (which took some doing, I might add), and for reminding us that it doesn’t take much to become a giant flaming asshole. Congrats, you’re the Grinch of the Year. Vote totals are below the cut, for the curious.

Roy Pearson: 42 votes
Legislators against the DC Vote: 16 votes
DC Gov’t Embezzlers: 9 votes
Metrobus Driver Victor Kolako: 5 votes
Senator Coburn for blocking Metro funding: 5 votes
All others: 1 vote