court: used car dealer
is a "vexatious litigant"
Ford Law utilized a new Arizona statute and persuaded a Phoenix court to designate a used car dealer who repeatedly filed lawsuits while representing himself a "vexatious litigant." The used car dealer, Van E. Flury filed a lawsuit against a valley Chevrolet dealer over an auction-gone-bad of a 2004 Ford Taurus LX valued at $1,100. A title issue came up, and the Chevy dealer asked for the car back, but Flury refused, wheedling an additional $1,000 out of the Chevy dealer along with a full refund of the $1,100 before he would give the car back.
Despute his "win," Flury sued, alleging that the Chevy dealer tortious interfered with contractual relations between him and the auction company. However, he not only did not plead any damages (a necessary element to recover under tortious interference), but any contractual relations between him and the auction company were discharged when he received the refund and extra $1,000, Maracopy County Superior Court Judge J. Richard Gama pointed out in his June 11, 2015 ruling.
Research of Arizona court dockets conducted by Chris Ford and the Law Office of William James Fisher, P.A. showed that Flury, representing himself, had filed at least 58 lawsuits in recent years in Maricopa County Superior Court, as well as federal civil and bankruptcy courts. Calling the sheer volume of cases "alarming," the Judge Gama issued an order designating Flury a "vexatious litigant."
Gama further found that Flury's tortious interference claim was frivolous, and the "gross number" of civil cases he filed, coupled with the fact that many of them were dismissed, "demonstrate something more than mere litigiousness." These fact, Judge Gama's June 11, 2015 order continues, "compel[] the conclusion that a large number of these civil filings were frivolous" and Flury was using "the litigation process as a means of harassment."
Sample photo of a 2004 Ford Taurus LX. Photo source.