01x12 - Newlywed's Make-Up Artist

[bunniefuu]

-You were planning a wedding?
-Yes, ma'am.

You paid her nothing?

"How dare you call me
before my wedding

asking me for money,"
is what she said.

And hung up in my face.

She was a stressed bridezilla.

Exactly.

[narrator] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music]

[narrator] Makeup artist
Donyale Jones

is suing Erica Fields

for payment of services

and negative reports
to regulatory agencies.

[Kevin] Court, come to order.
All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Good morning, Judge.
We have case number 1025,

Jones versus Fields.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Ms. Fields, I'm going to
start with you in this case.

You were planning a wedding?

-Yes, ma'am.
-On what date was the wedding?

Sunday, May 30th.

[Judy] Did it take place?

Yes, ma'am.

Is this your husband?

-[Fields] Yes, ma'am.
-Are you happy?

-Yes, ma'am.
-Yes, ma'am.

Good. Both look very happy.

-[Fields] Two months tomorrow.
-[Judy] Two.

Well, keep counting them
that way with this smile.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] And you had
a pretty good wedding day.

-Amazing.
-Yes, ma'am.

Great. When you were
planning the wedding,

according to what I read in
the complaint and your answer,

you were looking for someone to
do the makeup for your wedding.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] And you did a search
and you found someone

who came recommended,
and that was the plaintiff.

[Erica] Yes.

And on what date did you
make an appointment to see her?

Well, actually
before that, Your Honor,

I had a phone consultation with her
on Friday, April 23rd.

Okay, and you made
an appointment to see her.

The first appointment
was Sunday, two days later,

the 25th of April.

Okay. And you went
to her place of business.

Was it a studio or her home?

A studio.

[Judy] In the phone conversation
that you had with her

on the 23rd, did you get a quote

for what her services
would be in total?

Yes, ma'am.
So, the verbal quote was up to,

it was for myself on site,

and up to four bridesmaids.
I only needed three.

And how much was that?

Six hundred seventy-five dollars.

And I do have a copy
of that quote.

[Judy] I'm going to get to that

-in a minute.
-Yes, ma'am.

And after you left the studio,
where did you go?

To have engagement photos done.

How long did that take?

The engagement photos?
[laughs] Forever.

Yeah, for about
five or six hours,

we were being photographed
at multiple locations.

Okay, so it would be
fair to say, Ms. Fields,

you had your makeup
done on a Sunday,

which is not
a regular work day.

-Yeah.
-And you had

your makeup done on that Sunday

in order to take
your engagement photos?

-Um...
-That...

-There's no equivocation there.
-Okay.

[Judy] When one takes
engagement photos...

I've been through enough weddings

of my children
and grandchildren to know

that when you take
engagement photos,

you get your makeup done.

I wasn't planning to.
I don't wear makeup typically.

[Judy] Well, whether
you plan to typically,

it is too serendipitous

that out of 365 days a year...

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] ...that the one day

that you had your test makeup,

you also had
a very long photoshoot

for your engagement party
at multiple locations.

-Yes.
-I can't get that

through my head,

that that was serendipitous
and unplanned by you.

Yes, ma'am.
I did. I apologize.

Right. And now,
I'd like to see from you,

Ms. Jones,
a copy of the contract.

So here is the proposal
and the contract.

[Judy] And can you give me
some idea, Ms. Jones,

of how long the makeup application took?

It usually only takes
like 45 minutes,

but it was during conversation,
so it was a little bit longer.

It was like an hour
and maybe 15 minutes.

Do you remember what time
Ms. Fields got there?

No, I don't remember
exactly what time.

-Her appointment was...
-[Judy] Do you remember

-what time you got there?
-We were supposed to be there,

if I'm not mistaken, at noon.
And I got there...

I text her and told her
I was a few minutes late.

She said it was fine.
I got there.

-[Judy] Okay.
-She was waiting for me.

Were you wearing the clothes
you were going to wear

at the engagement photos?

-No, ma'am.
-Then you had to go home to...

and change in order to get
the engagement photos?

Yes, ma'am.

-What?
-[Jones] No,

she had the clothes on.
She left my studio,

-went straight to the site.
-[Erica] No, ma'am.

-What was she wearing?
-[Erica] I have pictures of

-my engagement photos.
-So, here is the photo

-that she had on.
-[Judy] I'd like to see.

-[Jones] It was... yeah.
-I'd like to see it.

[Jones] Mm-hmm.

And she also made it
her profile picture.

[Judy] Okay, just a second.
Ms. Fields?

Yes, ma'am.

This is your husband?

-[Erica] Yes.
-[Judy] Do you remember

what color shirt

you were wearing
for the engagement photos?

-Uh, yes, ma'am.
-It was... I'm sorry.

Yes, ma'am.
It was, uh, red.

-[Judy] It was red.
-Yes, ma'am.

And your wife
was wearing polka dot dress

with red, big red rose.

Yes, ma'am.

So, those were
the engagement photo.

-Mm-hmm.
-That's what you were wearing.

Well, you were wearing
that to the studio?

[Erica] No, ma'am.
I left church.

I came to her
in a black one-piece unit,

similar to what she's wearing.

And that's the picture
I sent her

-from the engagement photos.
-[Judy] Okay.

That's not what I was wearing.

This is not what
she was wearing, she said,

-[Erica] No.
-when she came to your studio?

-That is what she was wearing.
-No, I have a picture.

Okay.
Can I see your photo, please?

Yes, ma'am. Unfortunately,
it's in my phone

because I didn't know
it would be privy,

but this is
when I left her studio.

That was in her parking lot.

Okay, great.
I'll just take a quick look.

-[Erica] No rose.
-[Judy] Oh, my goodness,

those are some lashes.

-[Erica] Yeah.
-[inhales sharply]

[audience laughs]

Can I get some of those?

[Erica] Thank you, sir.

[Judy] Okay. I'm reading
this initial retainer,

and Sarah's viewing the contract

'cause I'm gonna look at it
in a second.

It says that when you left,
you were supposed to give her

a retainer of 300 dollars

if you signed the contract.

-Yes.
-Did you give it to her?

Uh, it was verbally agreed,
and I have...

[Judy] No, no, no.

-That's not what I asked.
-I'm sorry.

-No, I did not.
-Did you give her any money?

-Yes.
-[Judy] How much money

-did you give her?
-Thirty dollars cash for a tip.

-[Judy] As a tip?
-Yes.

[Judy] So, other than the tip,
you didn't give her any money?

No, ma'am.

But you did sign the contract.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Did the contract provide

that at the time
of signing of the contract,

you were supposed
to give her the deposit?

[Erica] No, ma'am.

It just says May 21st
was the entire amount was due.

There's no deposit date.

That's correct.

Okay, well,
it's a little confusing.

It says that the deposit
must be paid in advance.

Well, advance can be a day
in advance or two days in advance.

But there is,
according to the contract,

a 300-dollar deposit
that's due in advance.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] That's non-refundable.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Did you pay her

-the 300 dollars?
-No, ma'am.

Now tell me why not?

We had a verbal agreement

and later confirmed
by her in writing,

that May 7th was when
the deposit would be due.

Okay. Did you ask her
because you confirmed,

and you signed this contract?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] This is my question.
She does your makeup.

-Yes.
-She shows you the contract.

-Yes.
-[Judy] You say that's fine,

because we've already
agreed upon the price.

-Yes, ma'am.
-She needs a deposit

-to hold the date.
-[Erica] Yes.

I want you to understand
how that usually works.

-[Erica] Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] If you're going to

hold the date,

you say I'm going
to sign the contract

and give you a deposit,
the same day, that's what happens.

When you-you took
a wedding venue,

that's what usually happens
when you take a wedding venue.

-[Erica] Yes, ma'am.
-You go, you sign the contract.

On the day you sign
the contract,

you give them a deposit.
I assume that's what you did.

Um, the wedding venue was paid
in full the day we visited.

Okay, but it was paid well before.

-Yes.
-But usually

-you give someone a deposit.
-[Erica] Yes.

And they hold the date,

because this is
a service business.

It's a service venue,
it's a service, makeup artist.

So the 7th of May,
the delay in giving her a deposit

for sure had to be
because you asked for it.

She never gave me a date
for the deposits,

so that's why I asked if I could
just pay it on the 7th.

Well, because you seem
like an intelligent woman.

-[Erica] Yes, ma'am.
-The contract says

that the deposit
must be paid in advance.

-Yes.
-[Judy] By the way,

you should change the contract

by saying the deposit
must be paid

at the time of
signing the contract.

-After this, I have.
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] You did?
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Okay, so you understand
that there was...

[Jones] It's a little shaky, a little.

It's a little shaky.

-Yes.
-Because certainly

she wasn't doing your makeup,
even yours for a tip.

-I agree.
-So, at minimum,

you know
that you owe her the deposit.

-Yes.
-[Judy] At minimum.

-Yes.
-[Judy] So, ultimately,

you breached the contract,

and you breached the contract
by canceling her service.

-She canceled.
-Well, I read your answer.

You tell me in your words

what you want me
to believe happened.

So, when we spoke
over the phone and in studio,

we did verbally agree

that I would pay the deposit May 7th.

She didn't have a definite date
that she wanted it paid. But I...

No, no, no, no.
You understand what I mean.

-[Erica] Okay.
-Ms. Fields,

you're supposed to pay
the deposit

the day you sign the contract.

She didn't issue me
an invoice till May 1st.

See, it's not an invoice.
Uncross your arms.

Don't get angry.

So far, it looks like you're
ahead of the game, right?

Yeah.

You should have
paid the deposit

at the time
you signed the contract.

You knew that it said


The 375 was paid
on the day of the wedding.

You knew that.

And you knew that, sir,
'cause you came with her, right?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Did you have
any money with you?

-Uh, yes, ma'am.
-[Erica] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Well, if you
had money with you,

why didn't you give her a deposit

when you signed the contract?

Then all you had to do
was do $375

on the date of the wedding.

Finished.
You used the makeup.

You went and did
your engagement pictures

using her service,
and didn't pay her anything.

So, at minimum,
you owed her for her service.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Which is one hour,

and that charge
was minimally 300 dollars

because she was going to do you
and up to four bridesmaids

for another $375.

I mean, if you think about it,

because that's what
the package included.

Okay. So now, why don't you
tell me the story

that you're going to tell me

about how she breached
the contract?

So, May 3rd, I was at work,

and I received a phone call
from Donyale, out of the blue,

uninitiated by myself,
and she told me

that she had other
business opportunities

for the same day as my wedding
that were willing to pay

before our agreed-upon
deposit due date,

and that she wanted me
to pay her

in advance of our agreement.

And I told her
that I didn't have it.

To be honest,
I got paid that Friday and...

He said he had money.

I didn't ask him for it.
He wasn't my husband yet.

Just a second.
Now you can sit down.

He said he had money.

Yes, ma'am.

[whispers] Over there. Perfect. Perfect.

[theme music]

You're hollering
to the top of your lungs

and I'm like, hold up,

I didn't call you for all this.
So, I just became quiet.

I let her vent, and at that...

She was a stressed bridezilla...

-[Jones] Exactly.
-is what you're describing.

Exactly. And I just let her be

because sometimes
you just need to get it out.

[theme music]

[narrator]
Makeup Artist Donyale Jones

claims Erica Fields
refused to pay for services.

Erica is countersuing Donyale
for making false accusations.

So, she wanted
her money before?

[Erica] Yes, on the 3rd.

And you said to her?

I will pay you on Friday
based on our agreement.

The 7th. And she decided
to cancel because...

No, not she decided.
What did she say to you?

She said that she needed me

to pay her
of what I was going to do.

And I said,
"I don't, I'm at work.

And I can't really have
this conversation right now."

I said, "If you feel the need
to take the other business

because they can pay early,

go ahead and take
the other business."

She canceled the contract
and said...

Did not cancel the contract.
What did she say?

She did say
that she was going to bill me

for the trial service
for 80 dollars.

And I received that invoice.

Okay. Now, why did you
call her on the 3rd?

Because it had
gotten to that point.

And I did get a phone call
from one of my facial clients

that wanted to book that Sunday.

So, either I was going
to put them on a Saturday,

or I was going to put them
on a Sunday,

but I wanted to make sure

that she was paying me
my money on that Friday.

Okay, because that's what
you had agreed to,

-to accept the deposit on Friday.
-Yeah, I did.

Yeah, I did.
I did agree to that.

-[Judy] Okay.
-She said she had just

paid the venue all this money.

So I did. And we had just
came out of COVID.

So, I mean, I have a soft heart.

Okay, so you had agreed
on the 7th,

you called her on the 3rd
and you said,

"I want to make sure
you're going to do this booking

because I have
another opportunity."

I couldn't even
get the sentence out

before she went AWOL.

I couldn't even finish
the sentence. So, she...

No, when you say she went AWOL,
that's a conclusion.

I want you to tell me
what she said.

Oh! "How dare you
call me on the 3rd?

This is 27 days
before my wedding

asking me for money,"
is what she said.

[Judy] And what did you say?

[Jones] I couldn't say nothing
because she kept going.

And I just became quiet

because you're hollering
to the top of your lungs.

And I'm like, hold up.
I didn't call you for all this.

So, I just became quiet.
I let her vent.

She went venting
for about ten minutes

about other vendors and other
things that were going on

that had nothing to do with me.
And at that...

She was a stressed bridezilla...

-[Jones] Exactly.
-is what you are describing.

Exactly. And I just let her vent

because sometimes
you just need to get it out.

So, I let her vent,
didn't say nothing.

And at that point, I was
thinking in my mind, I'm like,

"This lady probably is not
going to pay me my money."

And in the conversation,
she said,

"Just cancel my contract,
just cancel.

I'll find somebody else,
just cancel it."

I said, "Is that,
if that's what you want,

I will surely do that."
"Yes."

I said, "Okay. Well,
I will still be billing you

for the services
that I did do,

which is the 80 dollars."

I did say that,
and she said, "Okay, fine,"

and hung up in my face.

Okay. Did you bill her
for the 80?

I did.

[Judy] Did she pay you?

Nope. She looked
at all the invoices.

Okay. Just a second.

Now, Ms. Fields,
we're gonna come back to you.

Yes. Yes, ma'am. I was at work.

Just a second.
I don't give a rat's behind

where you were
and how stressed you were.

I actually believe her.

I didn't go off on her.

[Judy] Just a second.
I actually believe her.

-[Erica] Okay.
-[Judy] Yeah.

-You know why I believe her?
-Yes, ma'am.

It all sounds very reasonable.
I mean, I'm visualizing this.

You signed a contract,
you didn't pay.

He had the money.

And he was with you
in his red shirt and jacket,

but he didn't pay the deposit.

You agreed,
which is perfectly fine,

that you would pay her
on the 7th.

-[Erica] Yes, ma'am.
-So, you saw her

on April 25th, and you said,

"I will pay you on May 7th."

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Or before.

I mean, you certainly
could pay her before.

You didn't.

She gets a call from
another one of her clients

who say, "I'd like to book you
on the same day as the wedding,"

which was May 30th.

And whatever the conversation
was, she said to you,

"Okay, we're probably
not a good fit."

She was prepared
to cancel the contract,

which you would sign.

-[Erica] Yes.
-She said,

"Just pay me
my 80 dollars for the makeup,"

which is a perfectly
reasonable thing to do.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Eighty dollars.

You said fine and hung up.

You didn't send her
the 80 dollars.

-No.
-You did, in fact,

report her
to the Better Business Bureau.

-[Erica] And others.
-Why?

Because she continued
to call me at work.

To ask for her 80 dollars.

Um, it goes deeper
than that, Your Honor.

Well, how much deeper?
This is the lady you never met.

-Exactly.
-[Judy] This is a lady

you've never met.

So, how could it go deeper?

It's not as if
you shared a boyfriend,

you shared an ex-somebody.

We share an acquaintance

that I didn't know
that we shared.

What difference
does that make?

The acquaintance has been
kind of sort of after me.

And I have now taken matters up
with that acquaintance

and this is some, the person

that's whose makeup
she did on the 30th.

[Judy]
Okay, so she told the story

that you had a service,
you didn't pay for it?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Because
she sent you an invoice

and what you should have done
was pay the invoice.

-Okay.
-[Judy] Okay.

And you got the invoice.

There's no question about that.

-And you ignored it.
-Yes, ma'am. I did.

[Judy] Okay.
And what I care about is

why you didn't pay
the 80 dollars.

Why should she work for you
for nothing?

You take the benefit
of her expertise

and use it to take
all of your engagement photos.

-[Erica] Yes, ma'am.
-Which was pre-planned,

and then not use her
as per the contract.

I don't understand why you think
you don't owe her

at least what you agreed to,
which was the 80 bucks.

I never agreed
to the 80 dollars.

-That's not true.
-[Judy] Well, well...

did you think she was going
to do your makeup for free?

I did not, Your Honor,
and just... I agree with you.

If she hadn't agreed
to the 80 dollars,

you would have been stuck
with the contract.

-Yes, ma'am. I understand.
-Which is a lot more.

I understand now.

-Do you?
-[Erica] I do now.

I mean, when you explain it,
yes, ma'am, I do.

I apologize. I do.

Okay, because her lawsuit now

is much more than just
the 80 dollars.

-[Erica] Yes, ma'am.
-Because

she says that you
maliciously filed reports

to the regulatory institutions
that regulate her business.

[Erica] Yes.
Now I would like to see,

please, the report that
she filed and what happened.

-[Jones] Okay.
-[Judy] As there are two parts.

[Jones] So, the BBB.
That's this one,

it's her response at the bottom
and mine at the top,

and it's still open
because we're here.

And then the second one
is with TDLR,

which is Texas Department
of Licensing and Regulation,

which is where I host
my aesthetician license under.

Can I see those?

Where she opened
an investigation with that.

[Judy] Thank you.

Well, I'm reading
your complaint.

[Erica] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] And your complaint
is a little disingenuous,

because what you say here is,
"She canceled the contract,

and she sent me a bill
for an 80-dollar trial run."

-[Erica] Yes.
-[Judy] "She chose to dishonor

her signed contract and cancel."

Which I don't think
happened at all.

I think that she agreed
to cancel the contract.

Otherwise,
you would be responsible

for the whole contract.

You would be responsible.
There's no question.

You have a signed deal.

I didn't ask her
to cancel, Your Honor.

[Judy] No, no, no, no.

I know
what the conversation was.

I actually do know,
like I could hear it,

like there was stress
and if you had said to her,

"I'm absolutely going to
pay you on the 7th."

That's three more days...

-[Erica] I did.
-Four more days.

No way.

She asked me
to pay her that day.

She said she needed me
to pay her that day

because the other person
was willing to pay that day

and I told her I couldn't
until the 7th

and she said, "Then I'm gonna
have to cancel your contract

because I'm asking you to pay."

Is that what happened?

Absolutely not.
It's a facial client.

I could have easily moved them
to a Saturday.

You're a wedding,
that's an all-day service.

Yeah.
It didn't happen that way.

-[Erica] The makeup she did...
-Ms. Fields,

-it didn't happen that way.
-Was for a bridal shower...

for my, the girl we know together.

-It was not for facials.
-[Judy] Okay.

This was... this was
an unnecessary overkill.

[theme music]

It's like if you
lift your spoon out

without rinsing it off,
and instead of saying,

"Listen, I'm not your maid,
clean up after yourself,"

she packs your bags
and says goodbye.

That would be an overkill, right?

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Yeah.

[theme music]

[narrator] Makeup artist Donyale Jones

is accusing Erica Fields

of refusing to pay for services

and reporting her
to regulatory agencies.

This was an unnecessary
"I'm an unhappy lady,

and I'm going to take
my aggressions out on somebody

who's trying to make a living."

This was unnecessary.
What kind of work do you do?

I'm an accountant
and a business analyst.

And she continued to call me

which is the same date
that I filed that

because she kept calling me.

She wanted her 80 dollars.

Well, at first, she wanted
her 80 dollars.

She sent you a bill
for 80 dollars,

you didn't pay the bill
for 80 dollars.

Instead you called
the Better Business Bureau.

I don't understand
what you were thinking.

I was... I was upset.

Doesn't sound like
you're losing, right?

-Oh, no...
-[Erica] I was upset. Honestly.

I don't care
if you were upset or not.

You should have sent her
the 80 dollars.

She worked on you for nothing.

She made you look gorgeous
for your engagement pictures,

which you loved, for nothing.

So, at least send her
the 80 dollars

when she sent a bill.

If you would've answered
her bill immediately

by sending the 80 bucks,

she wouldn't have kept
calling you.

I understand.

You just decided to ignore her.

Well, she got
really unprofessional.

[Judy] No, no, no, no,

not when she sent you the bill
for 80 dollars.

If you had immediately
sent her the 80 dollars,

she would not have called you
again and again for her money.

[Erica] Yes, ma'am.

How'd you expect her
to contact you for the money?

In writing. I asked her
to contact me in writing.

Why should she
contact you in writing?

Then she'd be,
then she's gonna charge.

Because of things that are...

she's saying that
I verbally said are not true.

So, that's why

I asked for it in writing.
What difference did it make?

For 80 dollars,
it would have been over.

Aren't you understanding that?

You should learn that in
your married life with him.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

For 80 dollars,
which was a fair amount of money

to cancel a deal,

because after all,
once you sign that contract,

Ms. Fields,
you are obligated to pay her



whether you use her
or don't use her.

-Okay.
-[Judy] That's your obligation.

She says, "You know what,

I don't want to deal
with this person.

Just pay me
for the day that you came in

that I spent with you,"

which is a reasonable
amount of money. Very.

Eighty dollars to do
your makeup for an hour.

She took a lot of time;

it wasn't just that she was
going to do your makeup,

one and done.

She was trying to impress you

that she could do
a beautiful job,

so you would retain her.

-I agree.
-[Judy] For the whole wedding.

I mean, you know,
it's very, very easy.

So, this first thing
that I'm reading was overkill.

Mm-hmm.

[Judy] Now I'm
looking at the next one.

This complaint, complaint
intake monitoring system, CIMS.

That's what
they left at my door

when they finished
their investigation.

[Judy] Just a second.

While they finished
the investigation,

it was received on May 18th.

And May 18th was
two weeks before your wedding.

So, two weeks
before your wedding,

you must have been
more stressed than you were

She continued
to call and text me.

[Judy] Why didn't you
just send her the money?

It became a matter
of principle with you.

It did, honestly.

[Judy] Yeah. Well, you had
nothing else to do.

You couldn't win
against anybody else.

Why did you even in the midst
of planning your first wedding...

How old are you?

-Forty-one.
-[Judy] Forty-one.

In the middle of planning
your first wedding,

you're trying to put
this woman out of business,

whose makeup you loved.

-Well, I got...
-Whose makeup you loved.

It's not that she did
a terrible job.

She got involved at work.

I got in trouble at work
for things that she did.

[Judy] It doesn't matter to me.

The problem, as Shakespeare said,
lies with you.

You looked to get out of paying
for a service.

And I don't think you looked
to get out of paying

for the service
because of the money.

-No, it wasn't the money.
-I think it was because

you were really stressed
with everything else.

-Agreed.
-And you took it out on her.

And I think
that that's unreasonable.

I do. I think that
that's very unreasonable.

And minimally,
since you both agreed

to modify the contract
to 80 dollars,

that's minimally
what the plaintiff would get.

She's suing for
a lot more than that

and she's suing
for reporting her

to the Better Business Bureau,

which is going to give her
a negative rating,

to the place that licenses her,
which is now on file

all because you were
in a snit over the fact

that you were stressed
over planning a wedding.

Do you understand, sir?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] It's like if you
lift your spoon out

without rinsing it off
in your house,

and instead of saying,
"Listen, I'm not your maid.

Clean up after yourself,"
which sounds familiar to me,

I've even said it
a couple of times myself,

she packs your bags
and says goodbye.

That would be
an overkill, right?

Yes, ma'am. [laughs]

This was overkill.

Plaintiff is suing in the amount
of 5,000 dollars,

which I think is a bit
of an overkill myself.

Are you still working?

-Currently, yes.
-[Judy] Okay, great.

So, she owes you 80 dollars
for the makeup,

and she owes you


for making trouble for you
that she had no right to do.

-Okay.
-[Judy] And that was malicious.

That's the judgment
of the court,



Judgment for the plaintiff,
your counterclaim's dismissed.

We're done. Thank you.

[Kevin] Court adjourned.

[theme music]

I'm elated.
And I'm-I'm thankful

that the judge saw
between all the lies.

She was just unprofessional

and wanted money earlier
than agreed upon.

Guess she was trying to
get me to do something for nothing.

I absolutely do now that
the judge has explained that.

And the way she explained it
made sense.

And I wish I had just given her
the 80 bucks and no tip.

She could have just paid it
and we would have been done.

I'm glad it's over.

So, usually when two people
want to modify a contract,

that usually has to be done
in the same form

as the original contract was,

so in this case,
it was in writing.

So, usually any modification

would also need to be
in writing.

That's true.

So why did you let them
off the hook?

Well, it seemed to me
that the plaintiff

was being very reasonable.

And she said, "All right,
maybe this is not going to work.

Just pay me for the hour
that we spent together."

And that would be
by quantum meruit;

pay for just the work
that was done,

and not for anything
in the future,

which seemed totally reasonable.

And I actually believe
that the defendant said,

okay, and hung up.

The woman sent her a bill
right away.

She didn't pay it and had
no intention of paying it.

The woman agreed to say,
"We're done.

Just pay me the 80 bucks

that I usually charge somebody
for a day's work."

I thought that that was
unconscionable.

I still think
it's unconscionable.

So, that's why
we massaged the rule.

Sometimes you get to do that.

For justice.

For justice.
That's absolutely right.

[narrator]
Have you been cheated?



[theme music]