In December 2008 a three-judge panel at the District of Columbia’s Court of Appeals dismissed Pearson’s first appeal to overturn a 2007 ruling that he had failed to show the store’s promise of “satisfaction guaranteed” amounted to fraud. Pearson claimed the three-judge panel had failed to address all the issues in his appeal.

On 2 March 2009, none of the remaining six judges at the DC Court of Appeals objected to the previous ruling, effectively rejecting the request for a second hearing.