A seemingly straightforward Craigslist sale of a $40 used printer turned into a six-and-a-half year court battle that ended up costing the seller $12,000 in lawyer fees — and he still may be on the hook for $30,000 if the buyer has his way.
In 2009, Doug Costello, 66, unwittingly sold the Brother laser printer, complete with a fax and a scanner, to a man that the Indiana Supreme Court describes as a "prolific, abusive litigant" who has brought dozens of high-priced lawsuits over online transactions, the Indianapolis Star reported.
The serial litigator, Gersh Zavodnik, 54, claimed the printer did not work when he received it and said that numerous attempts to get his money back were unsuccessful.
Zavodnik, a Ukrainian living in the United States with political asylum and who often represents himself in his legal battles, said he was then forced to sue the seller in small claims court.
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That lawsuit was thrown out of court because Zavodnik had thrown away the printer, but it didn't end there.
"I figured that's it," Costello told the newspaper. "But no, no, no. Now I'm in another twilight zone."
A year later, Zavodnik sent Costello paperwork requesting that he admit he was liable for more than $30,000 in damages related to breach of contract and fraud.
Indiana courts dismissed the case, but again, Zavodnik wasn't finished.
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He sent Costello two more monetary requests — one that said he was liable for more than $300,000 and another for more than $600,000, the newspaper reported.
Five years passed as the lawsuit bounced from court to court, with many judges recusing themselves from the case.
The cause of the case's stagnation, Zavodnik said, was an orchestrated attack on him due to the numerous lawsuits he brought in to Indiana courts.
"There are no safeguards," Zavodnik told the Daily News. "You go to the court of appeals, they collude and conspire. You go to superior court, they collude and conspire. It's mafioso!"
"It's about much more than the printer. It's about a conspiracy of the court," he added.
After a half decade, a judge finally ruled in Zavodnik's favor in the form of a $30,044 breach of contract judgement.
Costello appealed the ruling and it was swiftly dismissed, with a separate judge saying the high award "has no basis in reality," the Indy Star reported.
Still, nearly seven years later, the legal quagmire is not over.
A panel of judges will hold a hearing sometime this year to determine whether the case should be dismissed.
"Gersh is not normal," Costello told The News. "It's been a practice in zen mindfulness and non-attachment."
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