02x25 - Don't Go Fund Me

[bunniefuu]

You claim while you were living with him,
he'd made unwanted sexual advances.

He walked around his house in his
underwear and he patted you on the behind.

I kept saying,
'Don't touch me, don't touch me."

I sexually harassed her. That's not true.

[Narrator] This is Judy Justice.

Marilyn Bahoura is suing
her former friend, Douglas Saroki,

for storage fees
and a wrongful eviction.

[Bailiff] Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge. Case number 2062.
Bahoura versus Saroki.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Ms. Bahoura, how old are you?

-38.
-What do you do for a living?

I used to be a cosmetologist.

What do you do now?

I'm not doing anything right now.

Who are you living with?

I lived in hotels. I'm staying now
with a friend for three weeks.

How do you support yourself?

I'm on income that comes every month.
I'm on disability right now.

Is your disability of a physical nature
or psychological nature?

It's both.

And how much
do you collect from disability?

Around $900.

-A month?
-Yes, ma'am.

And how long have you been on disability?

About ten years.

Ten years?
And when were you a cosmetologist?

I started back in when I was 16,
during high school time.

And I started doing hair
and I went to hair school.

And then I ended up getting really sick,
so I went back and forth to doing hair,

and then I just couldn't do it anymore.

When did you...
you said you were a cosmetologist.

When were you a cosmetologist?

During high school year.
So, it was like around 2000.

That's a long time ago.
We're talking about ancient history.

Yes.

So, what you're telling me is
that since you were in your mid-20s,

you have been on disability.
And how old are you, sir?



You're a single man?

Yes, ma'am.

And tell me how you met the plaintiff.

About four years ago, she called me.

I do auto broker where somebody
wants a vehicle, and I go to the dealer

and try to make the best deal for them,
just like a real estate agent.

Tell me how she got your number.

So, I advertise on
Facebook, I advertise on LinkedIn,

so I don't know
exactly how she got my number.

How did you get his number?

[Marilyn]
The truth is I never got his number.

What happened was when we talk about,
"I'm looking for a car,

I want to sell my car," he messaged me,
"hey, I sell cars. I can help you."

-That's not true.
-Two, three years...

That's very true. I have all the messages
through Facebook and everything.

But he messaged me, "I can help you.
How are you? Good morning."

I said, "Okay. You can help me.

-Okay. I got enough.
-Yeah.

All right. So let me sort of outline
this case the way I am now,

putting it all together.

You came on to some hard times,
harder than usually your life is

because of your disability.

And you were in your apartment, according
to you, and the building had a fire.

Because of the fire, you became homeless.
You had already known the defendant.

He did something for you
with a car when you were living alone,

I assume in this apartment.
How many bedrooms in the apartment?

-One bedroom.
-It was a one bedroom.

And did you have a lease
in that apartment?

Yes, ma'am.

And how much were you paying in rent?

It was $790.

Okay, so you were paying $790
for the apartment that burned down.

I'm sorry, $690.
I apologize. $690

And how long had you lived there?

It would have been five years exactly.

Okay. It would have been five
years before the place burned down.

Your Honor?

-What?
-They were evicting her.

At the time of the fire?

-[Douglas] Yes.
-[Marilyn] No.

Just a second.
One second. Don't shout out again.

However, I find that interesting.
She was living there for five years.

And how do you
know that she was being evicted?

She showed me the paperwork.

May I see it?

Yeah, it's in my phone.

Here's the letter that
she had with the management.

Okay, good. Thank you.

I just see your request for a hearing.
And the hearing was for what?

It was dismissed. I had...

No, no, no. The hearing is for what?
Was it for an eviction?

-No.
-What was it for?

I had COVID and I had Sarah pay.

Are you not understanding me?

No. Hearing for what? I'm sorry.

I said, "Was the proceeding
an eviction notice?"

No, it wasn't. It wasn't eviction notice.

They don't have proceedings for COVID.
They have an eviction case.

You may say I don't have money because
of COVID, and they give you time to pay.

Were you served with an eviction notice?

It was a warning to go to court.

Just a second. For what?

For speeding, for robbery,
for as*ault, or for an eviction?

For non-payment.

For eviction! Listen.

For eviction.

Okay.

What do you mean "okay?"

Only because when I told...
the judge said it's not an eviction.

I don't care what you told the judge.

-No. He told me.
-You were brought to court for a eviction.

Kevin, would you return this
to her, please?

-My landlord...
-Just a second. Just a second.

Ms. Bahoura, let me explain
something to you.

I don't know whether you watch me
in the past or whether you don't watch me

in the past, but I want you to know
that I know exactly who you are.

I know exactly how you live.
I know exactly how you support yourself.

I know who you are, I know all of that.
So, let's not play with each other.

You're a smart lady, you've managed to
negotiate at age 38 a system for yourself.

So, when I ask you
did you go to court for an eviction?

The answer is yes.
You want to explain it to me

if I ask you what happened?
'Well, I paid it and then COVID.

'They couldn't throw
me out because it was COVID.

You're not allowed
to evict somebody during COVID.'

You want to explain that to me
if I'm interested, that's fine.

But if I say to you, "Were you
summoned to court for an eviction?"

The answer is...

[Marilyn] Yes.

Okay. Perfect.

-Okay.
-[Judge Judy] Now...

Whether that had any impact
on the fire in this building,

I have no idea.

No, I don't think so.

[Judge Judy] I have no idea.

Plaintiff says she was a heroine
in this fire, according to her complaint,

and she got a lot
of people out of the building,

and the things
in her apartment were unscathed.

Now, prior to that time, had you done
anything other than help her secure a car?

-No.
-Did you help her secure a car?

I couldn't get it
because her credit was terrible.

Just a second.
Did she want a car?

-Yes.
-Okay. What kind of a car did she want?

That's the reason that you met.

The first time,

something inexpensive like a GMC Terrain.

The second time,
she wanted a 2017 or 2018 Lincoln.

Oh, my God.

I think it's MKX or MKZ.

What was she driving
when she contacted you? Nothing.

-Nothing. Right.
-Nothing.

Did she ever buy a car?

From me, no.
But she did get one from a dealer.

I don't know how they did it, because...

[Judge Judy] Uncross.

Yes, ma'am.

Do you currently own a car?

No, I don't own a car...
Well, now I have a car, yes.

That's what I asked.
Do you understand?

You have to let me
introduce you to the truth.

Mr. Truth, I'd like you
to meet the plaintiff.

I'm a little bit nervous.

-Do you have a car?
-Yes, ma'am.

No, you're only nervous now because you
know I understand you. You now have a car.

And where are you living now?

With my friend.

Where were you living prior to that?

Hotel rooms.

When did you purchase the car?

March 27.

What kind of car did you buy?

That was the Terrain.

What year?



How much was it?

With everything, I think it was $24,000.

How much of a down payment
did you put down?

[Marilyn] $2,000.

And you financed the rest with whom?

They financed it with...

They had to go to a third party lender.

I don't care.
Do I look like I need your help?

-No.
-No.

Now... Because I'm
trying to find out how this lady,

who has the sole income of $900 a month,
lived in an apartment for $700 a month,

managed to save up $2,000
to put down on a car.

Car has insurance,
car has gas, car has expense.

You have to buy food.
You need to take care of your hair.

Looks like you buy nice clothes.
Looks like you have some jewelry.

That's more than $900 a month, and you've
been really on the doles for a decade.

So, I'm just trying to
square all this with what I'm seeing.

Do you understand where I'm going?

-Yes, ma'am.
-Great.

Okay. Now... So, this is
what you're complaining about...

the defendant, after you called him, said,
'Well, I have a spare room in my condo.

You can come with me.'
And you say, 'Well, I have all my

'stuff that I've accumulated
in my apartment, and I have only one

'storage unit to put it in. And I'll have
to pick through and discard stuff,

'blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

because I can't afford a second
storage unit.' And according to you,

the defendant said,
'I'll pay for the second storage unit.'

And at some point after
you moved in with him and threw you out,

he reversed the charges.

And so you were charged
for your storage unit for your stuff.

That's part of your lawsuit... $600.

Now, the main part of your complaint,
for which you want almost $6,000,

is for punitive damages
because you claim that Mr. Saroki,

while you were living with him
rent-free, food-free,

everything-free,
made unwanted advances towards you.

And I'm certain that what you did was
put in this complaint the most

egregious things that he did to you.

Because you would want me to know the most
egregious things that he did to you.

Right? Okay.

As for the money, the way it was saved,

-I had a Go...
-Just a second.

-Yes, ma'am.
-Don't tell me you had a GoFundMe page.

I did.

[Marilyn] It was for the fire.

-Just a second.
-It was his idea, too.

No. No.

-I got it.
-Got it?

Oh, I'm dying to see that.

[Narrator] Marilyn Bahoura claims
her former friend, Douglas Saroki, owes

for storage fees and a wrongful eviction.

Douglas is countersuing for
property damage and false accusations.

So, let me read to you
what you say he did to you.

The unwelcomed advances.

"He would walk
around the house in his underwear."

Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] Just... just...

I didn't ask you anything.
These are the most egregious things.

"And he patted my behind
when he walked past me."

-Not true.
-Now, just a second.

Those were the first two things
that you tell me that he did to you.

Now, how many times
do you say he touched you?

[Marilyn] Between seven to eight times.

[Judge Judy] Seven to eight times, okay.

When did you live with him?

I moved in the March 5 of the fire.

And how long did you stay?

Till the 31st.

-Of what?
-Of March.

And what happened on the 31st of March?

I was trying to make phone calls
to get a car behind his back

because he took the privileges
from using his car.

[Judge Judy] Just a second.

So, while you were living with him,
he let you use his car when you needed it,

and then he told you
you couldn't use his car anymore?

So, he didn't tell me. What he did was,
on the 24th, he said,

"We're going to go to my son-in-law.

I sold the car to some lady.
Come with me, let's drop it off."

Which is the Cadillac that I'm using.
Because he has two cars...

he ended up getting the electric Audi.
He said, "Just use my car."

Now, keep in mind, he's letting me
use that car since March 3.

March 4, my house
burns down at 1:00 a.m.

So, he goes and gives a car to some lady.
We drop it off all the way.

Date?

March 24, if I'm not mistaken.

Okay, so that's March 24.

So, I have no more car at this point.
So, the Cadillac is gone now.

You didn't have a car
when you were living someplace else.

-So, moving in with him, you had a car.
-Yes.

Which was very nice because
you hadn't had a car previous to that.

So, now we dropped the car off,
and now you didn't have a car.

-Yes.
-That's March 24.

Then what happened?

I was trying still to figure out...
And we had talked about...

You tried... you didn't finish to say.

You were trying to figure out what?

Figure out how to get a car.

Okay. So, you were trying to get a car.

As for the money,
the way it was saved, I had a Go...

-Just a second.
-Yes, ma'am.

-Don't tell me you had a GoFundMe page.
-I did.

[Marilyn] It was for the fire.

-Just a second.
-It was his idea, too.

No. No.

-I got it.
-Got it?

Oh, I'm dying to see that.

Okay. Now,
you were driving his car, right?

-Yes.
-Ever think about driving for Uber?

Seems as if you're
perfectly capable of doing that.

You drove a car...
pick somebody up, take them back.

I don't know how
that would be affected by your disability

because clearly you were able to drive.

I'm going to get past that.
We're back to March 24.

Now you're making calls
when he's not around to try to get a car

because you no longer have a car.
You leave on March 31.

Do you want to tell me
what the circumstances were

that caused you to leave on March 31?

So March 26, he said,
"Can you please go to a friend's house?

I'm bringing a girl over."
I said, "Yes. No problem. It's his house."

-Okay.
-I said, "Can you please drop me off?"

I have a friend that was
supposed to be my witness today.

She wasn't feeling good. "Can you drop
me off?" Because it's only 15 minutes

where from he's from.
He said, "Yes. No problem."

And when you slept
in the defendant's condo,

you had your own room?

-Yes, ma'am.
-Okay.

So, we got up, and everything was fine.
He was rushing me out.

We were talking, and as he showed me
a picture of who he's bringing,

I told, "Doug, shut my room door,
because I have stuff in there."

So he dropped me off. I went to my friend.
It was actually my friend's birthday.

-I don't care.
-Okay.

So, in the morning at 10:00 a.m.,

I get a text message showing me
a one dish plate on the sink.

And he was like, "You couldn't do a dish?"
I said, "I cleaned the whole house."

I said, "Anyway..."
I said, "Should they drop me off,

"or do you want to come get me?

I want to come back home."
He's like, "No, I'll come get you.

I'll pick you up." He came,
he got me. We sat in the car.

I said hi. He's like,
"I asked you to do one fa..."

I said, "Wait. The dish?"

I said, "I cleaned the whole house
and everything."

We went back to the house.

Then what happened?

He knocks on the door and he says,
"Pack up. I'm calling you an Uber. Leave."

I said, "I have nowhere to go.
Where am I going to go?

What do you mean 'leave?'" He said,
"I just don't want you here anymore."

Now, this is on the 27th.
He tells you to leave.

You call the police?

No, he called the police.
I told him to call the police.

-No, she didn't tell me. I did.
-Just a second.

Because you didn't want to leave?

-I...
-Because...

I had nowhere to go.

Because you didn't want to leave.

It's not that... I didn't have
nowhere to go. I had no car to leave.

Well, just a second.
Are you living in a hotel after this?

-Yes, I did.
-After this.

And how did you get to the hotel?

The guy that I purchased
the car from brought it

to his house, brought me that car.

So, you're... just a second.

So he asked you to leave, and you managed
to get a car and you went to a hotel.

Right?
What happened between the 27th?

Because police were called,
they came, and they evidently

-said you could stay.
-One week.

One week. They tell you you could...

What happened was there were two cops.

I don't need a whole story.
Did they let you stay?

He said, "How long would you like
for you to have?"

I said, "I need some time.
I have nowhere to go." That's when...

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

A week.

But you left on the 31st. Did anything
else happen between the 27th and the 31st?

-No.
-You packed up your things

-and a car was delivered and you left.
-Yes. Yes.

-There were no incidents?
-No.

And so, just so that I'm
totally clear and understand...

on the 27th, you were in a safe place
in somebody's house.

You have your own bank account,
because GoFundMe.

I have the page.

Oh. May I see it, please?

Sure.

-And the description is here.
-Okay.

And that's how much it's...

Okay. "My name is Marilyn
and I'm a fire survivor."

'Place where I live caught fire.'
"I left my apartment to go upstairs.

I knew it was too late for one
of my neighbors. I had to scream..."

"I will make a long story short.
It's taken a toll on me and everyone else.

"My main goal was to save everybody.

"We ended up losing everything because we
had to leave the premises, and we were

"not allowed to go back for 24 hours
to remove what was left in our apartment.

"As for me, I now have nowhere
to go and I need help to get into a place.

"I had to borrow a friend's
transportation to get around,

"rent out a storage,
and put everything there that I can.

At this point in my life,
it feels like a dream."

And so far... you ask for $7,000,
and so far you raised $1,772

from soft-hearted Americans.
These people got to stay off the Internet.

I find it unbelievable for a person
as strong as you are that if he was

doing these things that were
so irritating to you... There's the door.

And you've managed to find a place
to go and find... Don't speak back to me.

[Narrator] Marilyn Bahoura has accused
her former friend, Douglas Saroki,

of sexual harassment
while living with him.

Douglas says Marilyn lied to the police
and damaged his reputation.

Okay, so just so that I'm clear,
you raised almost $1,800.

You didn't have a car before.

-I had a c...
-No.

You told me
you didn't have a car before.

Is that what she said, Whitney?
She didn't have a car before.

During that time.

At that time is what I'm talking about.

At the time of the fire, when you
were living in the $690/mo apartment,

you didn't have a car.

You see, what I don't understand,
madam, is that in the whole litany

of your travails and troubles
with the defendant,

who... it sounded to me a little
bizarre taking in somebody he didn't know,

dating somebody else,
bringing somebody else to his house...

was 69 year old man.
He can do what he wants to do.

He's not asking you for anything.
You pay for your own storage.

If you had to pay for your own storage,
pay it out of the GoFundMe page.

The thing that's most
irritating to me is that you now,

in order to get money from him,
you sued him for sexual advances.

And if they were so horrific to you,
you've lived in motels before.

You've lived in hotels before.
You have friends.

But it's sort of outrageous to
try to convince me that you were

so outraged by
his conduct and still stayed.

And when he tried to get you out,
try to convince the police to

let you stay because it was your home.
That's what I don't understand.

The police said that she has...

Just a second.
Do you understand what I just said?

Everything you're saying
is not what how it happened.

Everything's a lie. Because he gave me
the car two days before the fire.

He told me, "I have an extra room. I'm
going to help you. Come clean my house.

I'll give you $300 to get back on..."

This is the truth. "I'll get you
back on your feet." I did lose my home.

I did save people. Yes, I am...

You're not understanding what I'm saying.

I was over there for free.
I paid for food. I helped him, too.

The car he gave me...

I go back and forth, helping him bring
in his papers to the car dealerships.

Let me ask you a question.
What do you think he owes you for?

You're going to pay your own storage unit.
That's why you went on a GoFundMe page.

He said do the GoFundMe. He called
one of his friends from California.

"He's going to send $500."
Yes, I saved it.

That money from the GoFundMe
and from whatever I got from my friend...

I saved it to get a car.

I said, "Are you going to still
help me put the down payment?"

He promised the down payment.
He promised everything.

I have proof right here
that he promised everything.

"I'll take care of you. Don't worry
about it." This is all him saying.

[Judge Judy] Okay. Take care of yourself.

I find it unbelievable, for a person
as strong as you are, that if he was doing

these things that were so
irritating to you... There's the door.

And what I have a problem with
is that some people

really are subject in their workplace,
in a domestic situation, a*usive people.

And when you try to use it to get money
from... Well, that's what you're here for.

That's what you're suing him for.

-$6,000.
-You're absolutely right, except me.

$6,000.

I could have, but I had nowhere to go.

Just a second. Don't tell me
you had nowhere to go.

You've had some place to go for 38 years.

For 38 years you've
managed to find a place to go.

-The fire happened so fast.
-Don't speak...

Don't speak back to me.

You've managed to find
some place to go for 38 years

and without working,
hustle to live... however that was,

whether it's through relief
or food stamps or disability payments

or cosmetics on the side,
you've managed to not work and live.

Well, that's what you told me.
Don't look quizzically.

You've managed to not work and to live.

Somebody who may have had
ulterior motives.

You know, 70 doesn't go into 38, sir.


but 70 doesn't go into 38.

So, I would stay within my ballpark
if I were you. Do you understand?

And it doesn't belie credulity,

which means I can actually
understand that a single guy


who's relatively attractive.

That he's extended a hand
to come and live with him.

And he made an agreement with her...
I don't even have to go into it...

that she would
take care of the apartment.

She would clean up the apartment.

She wouldn't have to pay you rent.
She could use your car. All of that stuff.

And there is no question in my mind,
in your head,

that somewhere down the pike
there was going to be a payday.

Just a second.
Maybe. Maybe not.

However, the plaintiff has two good feet,
and she was out of your house

and she insisted on coming,
as she calls it, home.

"I had to go home."

And then when the police came,
she insisted on staying home.

"How much time do you need to get out?"
Because he wanted her out.

"I need a week here
because I have no place to go."

Okay, your case is dismissed.
Listen, sir, you made a mistake.

I made a mistake.

You made a mistake.

Your mistake just got dressed down
in an international forum.

Because there's no question in my mind
that this lady who lives by her wits,

if she didn't want to live someplace,
she wouldn't live there.

So, your case is dismissed
as is your counterclaim. We're done.

[Bailiff] This court is adjourned.

I am a very humble person.

I don't hurt people. I'm a giver.

She knew that the girl is lying,
and I knew that she

would catch it right up front.

She's the judge, right?
But the real judge is God.

That's who I put my faith in.

You can't do anybody a favor.

She had a fire.

And she may have seen me dressed up nice.

I'm going to take care of myself
whether I am homeless or not.

She called me
at one or two in the morning,

had nowhere to stay, so I let her in.

I'm not going to come as a scrub.
I'm not a scrub, so...

You know, people have to be
so careful on GoFundMe,

and there's no fact check on the Internet.

There's no way to tell whether
she really did lose her belongings

and was homeless from a fire or not.

People can write
whatever they want on the Internet.

And it really rubbed me the wrong way,
because I thought I read

in her sworn papers for today.

She said, "I was able to save
most of my belongings,

because my unit
did not burn to the ground."

And you read the complete opposite
on her GoFundMe page

that she was using to solicit money
from innocent people online.

And that really rubs me the wrong way,
because you're going to swear

to this here in court today.

But there is no such
sworn testimony for the Internet.

We've seen a few cases like that...

even people feigning illness...
and it's actually just a testament of

the good-hearted people that live in this
country that will give a total stranger,

-based upon...
-A caption.

...a caption... $10, $100.
Just makes them feel better.

But when you find somebody who abuses it,
it really hurts everybody.

Because people will look
at these GoFundMe pages...

some of which are legitimate...
as potential scams.

-Yeah.
-Anyway...

-That's a woman who lives by her wits.
-That's true.

And he's an older guy
who should know better.

Also true.

[Narrator] Want justice?