The judge is legally correct and I say so as a retired lawyer. You people who think the judge was nuts apparently missed this part of the article: "Anaya’s attorney invoked the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Act (MVSRA), a 1974 law that protects car owners against “unfair and deceptive practices” by mechanics in addition to the charge of negligence. They did so because a defendant that violates the MVSRA must not only pay damages, but also the plaintiff’s legal and court fees. In cases involved screwed up oil changes or tire rotations, the legal fees can often be far higher than the damages."
The tire rotation was done negligently. Nobody says otherwise, including the appellate court that made this ruling. However, the MVSRA only applies if the mechanic charged for work that was not performed. The work WAS performed. Incompetent and negligent, sure -- but there was nothing "unfair" or "deceptive" about it. At Page 6 of the opinion, the appellate court even said, "To accept the trial court's interpretation would essentially turn every incorrectly performed repair into a violation of the MVSRA." Here's the actual case, I found it in 10 seconds on google. Read it instead of journalistic BS:
https://law.justia.com/cases/michigan/court-of-appeals-published/2019/343887.html
This fight was not about a defective tire rotation. I'm willing to bet serious money that the mechanic offered to repay the actual damages long before there was even a trial. No, the real fight was his LAWYER using this case to get a huge amount of attorney's fees - $70,000 or about two years of the lawyer's child's college tuition. The lawyer knew that under centuries of American and English common law (our common law is based on English common law) the plaintiff does NOT get attorney's fees unless a statute or contract specifically says so. The only way he could get his $70,000 was to shoehorn a simple negligence case into an "unfair and deceptive practice" under the statute. Well, it wasn't "unfair" or "deceptive" in any way under the English language. I'm glad he lost.
This is an example of how the media spins things to make common sense seem unreasonable.