MLive.com: “A Grand Haven couple will have to pay for disposing of their son’s pornography collection. The only question is how much. David Werking, 42, sued his parents, Beth and Paul Werking, after they tossed out what a judge called ‘a trove of pornography and an array of sex toys.’ U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo granted the son’s request for summary judgment in his favor. The parties have until mid-February to file written submissions on damages. The parents’ attorney, Anne Marie VanderBroek, said she is working to establish the value of the items that were disposed of but declined to comment about the case.”
“David Werking contends damages are around $25,000. His attorney, Miles Greengard, contends that his client should receive treble damages, which is allowed under his claim of conversion of property. ‘We have asked the Court for treble damages, which we believe are warranted given the wanton destruction of the property,’ he said. He was pleased with the judge’s ruling. The case wasn’t just about a guy and his dirty magazines. ‘This was a collection of often irreplaceable items and property,’ Greengard said. His client had moved into his parents’ home in late 2016 after a divorce. After he left for Muncie, Indiana, he expected them to deliver his belongings. He later realized that a dozen boxes of pornographic films and magazines were missing. His father said in an email: ‘Frankly, David, I did you a big favor getting rid of all this stuff.’ The judge earlier rejected the parents’ request to dismiss the case. ‘Getting to the heart of the coconut now, the legal issue before the court is whether Paul and Beth converted David’s pornography ‘to their own use,’’ Maloney wrote earlier. He found that they did.”