Neighbor's Remedy to Avoid Piano Music Costs Him $40K

An appeals court says a piano teacher deserved the $40,000 she was awarded in a dispute with a neighbor who revved his pickup truck engine for months to drown out the sound of her lessons. The court ruled this week that Junghee Kim Spicer's Yakima Arts Academy in Selah, Washington, was entitled to the payment from her neighbor. The inharmonious relationship started in 2012, court records say, when Spicer increased the number of piano lessons she gave, per the AP.

From November 2015 through March 2016, Paul Patnode parked his diesel truck next to Spicer's home, and remotely raced the engine and set off the vehicle's alarm when students arrived. Spicer sued Patnode, and Yakima County Superior Court Judge Gayle Harthcock ordered Patnode to pay $40,000 for emotional distress.

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