This is your granddaughter
- and her boyfriend. - Yes.
You were living with her. She was supporting you.
He never gave me--not one dollar.
You get up in the morning, what do you do?
- Nothing. - Nothing.
I helped her do a lot of things around the house, ma'am.
Entitled, ungrateful, self-centered spoiled brats.
That's what you are.
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Fredonia, Wisconsin.
Your Honor, this is case number 2081 on the calendar
in the matter of Valerius versus Mueller, Bruining.
- Thank you, Byrd. - You're welcome, Judge.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
Good morning, Ms. Valerius.
[Roberta] Good morning, Judge.
You are suing two defendants
- in this case? - Yes, I am.
Defendant Brooklyn Bruining. Brooklyn's your granddaughter.
- Reese Mueller is her boyfriend. - Yes.
[Judge Acker] And your claim against them is for unpaid rent.
You alleged that you bought a computer and paid for some classes for Brooklyn.
You fronted expenses for furniture and moving expenses for both of them,
and you also claim that, uh, you bought a cell phone.
And the total amount for which you're suing is $10,000.
Reese, you have sworn out an answer
- on behalf of both yourself and Brooklyn. - Yes.
[Judge Acker] And you allege that you don't owe the plaintiff any money
and you maintain that she's only bringing this
because she's angry with the two of you
and that she's lost some degree of power or control over Brooklyn.
Ms. Valerius, this is your granddaughter.
She's 19 now.
And you raised her since she was eight.
How did she come to live with you?
April of 2013,
um, things were not going well in Michigan.
Uh, she was placed in the care of her father
after a lengthy custody battle.
And her father won custody, and that did not work out.
There was domestic arguments going on.
And I was asked to take them in
because they were going to foster care.
[Judge Acker] When you say them, you mean Brooklyn and her brother?
Yes. Her brother is, uh, 21 and Brooklyn is 19.
I got them when they were eight and ten.
[Judge Acker] And who else was living with you in the home?
[Roberta] Um, my husband.
And I asked if he would want to raise them
because I was told that would be indefinite.
My husband and I wanted to help.
What did you do for a living, ma'am?
I cleaned operating rooms
and my husband ran his own, um, auto, uh, repair business.
When you took Brooklyn and her brother into your home,
were you getting any help or assistance
- from anybody else? - [Roberta] No.
[Judge Acker] Just you and your husband.
Yes.
[Judge Acker] And then fast forward a few years,
uh, Brooklyn becomes a young woman
and becomes involved with Reese
and you allow Reese to move in with you.
Why did that happen?
Well, Reese lived probably half an hour away from my home.
I live very rural.
And he didn't have a car at the time
and he was wanting to see Brooklyn every day.
So, he was coming back and forth, back and forth.
And neither one of his parents could constantly provide transportation
for him to come visit Brooklyn.
And he wasn't working at the time,
which troubled me because at that time, he was 17.
And she asked if he could spend a couple nights.
And a couple nights turned out to him actually moving in.
And I constantly demanded for him to get a job.
At one point, I did take him to a temp agency and got him a job,
and he worked that job for six weeks.
I provided the transportation to and from every day
no matter what shift they had him working on.
And he got paid every week and he never gave me not one dollar.
[Judge Acker] Reese, let's talk to you for a moment.
When you moved in with Ms. Valerius, you were dating Brooklyn, yes?
Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] And it was a good thing.
- It was nice for you... - [Reese] Yeah.
- ... to be able to live there. - Yeah.
[Judge Acker] Did you ever pay her any rent?
No, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] Did you ever talk to her about paying any rent?
No, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] Ms. Valerius,
if there were no conversations with Reese before moving in,
how do you come up with the $600 a month for rent?
Because right now, your rental claim is based on your allegation
that they should be paying you $600 a month for a year.
Where does that number come from?
Was there really a legal expectation for rent,
or were you just hopeful that he might, at some point,
step up and do the right thing?
Um, I know there wasn't any legal discussions
about it or nothing in writing.
But the fact of the matter is, when you are an adult,
you are responsible to make ends meet on your own.
I had to go back to work.
Um, my husband died January of '21
and I was five years older than my husband.
I had to go back to work to maintain a home for Brooklyn,
and Brooklyn's mother lives with me.
And you do what you have to do for the people that you love.
And I believe that they've taken advantage of me.
- Let me just interrupt you... - [Roberta] Okay.
... because I wanna talk to the two of them.
Reese, didn't you think that maybe you should be working
and helping to contribute to the household?
I was contributing to the household.
- I was doing household chores... - [Judge Acker] How were you...
... and I power-washed her house.
I helped her clean out her garage.
I helped her do a lot of things around the house, ma'am.
Brooklyn, did you enjoy living with your grandmother?
Yup.
[Judge Acker] Now, one of the things that she's claiming
is that she paid for some classes for you and for a computer.
Are you in school now? Are you studying anything?
- No, not now. - [Judge Acker] What were the classes for?
Um, my senior year of high school.
- [Judge Acker] To get your GED? - Yeah.
Now, Ms. Valerius,
when you paid for those classes and when you bought the computer,
did you have a legal expectation of repayment,
or were you instead doing those things
because you loved her and you wanted her to do well?
Well, I applied for Social Security for her.
She has panic attacks.
She has severe anxiety disorder.
She's had this for a number of years
and I did not go to Social Security until she was 17 years old.
And at that point, it took a year for them to decide
that Brooklyn was definitely in need of some monies
and that she did have a disability.
[Judge Acker] And she ultimately was awarded benefits
- and you were to receive them... - Yes.
- ... on her behalf, correct? - Yes.
Now, I wanna talk to you, Reese and Brooklyn,
because there came a point in time
when one or both of you called the police
and suggested that she'd stolen the check.
Reese, tell me about why that happened.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
[Judge DiMango] You, you're even more of an ingrate
'cause she owes you nothing.
Calling the police?
You should be locked up for that alone, Reese.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Roberta Valerius is suing granddaughter, Brooklyn Bruining,
and boyfriend, Reese Mueller, for $10,000.
Roberta claims they owe her rent and reimbursement
for financial support when they lived with her.
But the teenagers claim that Roberta welcomed them,
then became angry when they moved out
and cut her off from government support.
[Judge Acker] There came a point in time
when one or both of you called the police
and suggested that she'd stolen the check.
Reese, tell me about why that happened.
Yes, uh, Brooklyn checked her, uh, SSI account
and she saw that, uh, Ms. Valerius got a check
for $2,742.
And we ended up calling her and asking her where the check was
'cause we're two 18-year-olds living on our own
and we're struggling on limited money for rent and everything.
And she said that the money was hers.
So, me and Brooklyn decided to go to the police and report it as theft
and the police couldn't do anything about it.
So, we--then we reported it to SSI.
But you know it wasn't a theft
because she was legally authorized to receive that check.
And as you both acknowledged,
you were living with her.
She was supporting you.
You weren't giving funds to the household.
I mean, food costs money.
Electricity and utilities cost money.
You know you weren't right to call the police on her.
- You know that. - Yes, Your Honor,
that check was from, uh, when we moved out into our own apartment.
[Judge Acker] But the check-- remember, she was applying for benefits
- for the prior year. - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] So, she hadn't received anything.
Did you receive anything from the government...
- No. - ... with respect to Brooklyn's care
- during any of the time that... - No.
- Nothing. - [Judge Acker] ... she lived with you?
- Not a thing. - Yes, uh...
[Judge Acker] Tell me why you didn't apply earlier, ma'am.
Why did it take you so long to apply for these benefits?
What--the reason I applied when I did is because I'm 70 years old
and I really worried about what would Brooklyn do
if something happened to me?
She's burned bridges with other members of the family.
So, she really was relying upon me
and her mother who is ill who lives with me.
She was relying upon us.
I worry about how she's going to make it in the world
when I'm not here.
But there's consequences for everything that people say and do.
- And I... - [Judge Acker] There are indeed.
And I wanna talk again to Brooklyn.
Are the two of you living independently?
[Brooklyn] Yeah.
[Judge Acker] What are you doing for a living right now, dear?
- Um, nothing. - [Judge Acker] Nothing.
Are you studying?
No.
Your grandmother is suing you not because she doesn't love you.
And I think she needs to hear that.
You love your granddaughter?
[Roberta] Very much.
But I'm trying to teach her that throughout life,
there's always consequences for everything you say and do.
And I was devastated when they called the police on me...
- [Judge Acker] I'm sure you were. - ... because I've bent over backwards
to give her a nice home, nice clothes.
My sense from this lawsuit and from your complaint
is that you brought this as a wakeup call.
And I'm gonna tell you, Brooklyn, you gotta wake up.
The world will not be any more kind to you than your grandmother has.
In your answer, one of the things that the two of you complain about
is that the plaintiff's bringing this lawsuit
because she wants to keep control,
yet you complain about the fact
that she didn't drive Brooklyn to a job interview.
Yes, Your Honor. The--
this whole lawsuit started after she found out
that we're taking her off the payee for her--for Brooklyn's benefits.
That's when the entire lawsuit occurred.
[Judge Acker] Brooklyn, what do you wanna do with your life?
Um, become a CNA.
- [Judge Acker] Become a what? - [Brooklyn] A CNA.
- A certified nurse's assistant? - [Brooklyn] Yes.
[Judge Acker] And how do you think you're gonna get there?
Um, I don't know.
Do you have a computer?
No, she took it back.
[Judge Acker] Did you take the computer back?
- [Roberta] No. - [Judge Acker] Do you have...
When they moved out, they took the computer.
[Judge Acker] Do you have the computer?
Uh, no. But her brother does have a computer at the house.
You're going to have to start to contend with what being an adult means.
Knowing that your grandmother had supported you
with zero help from the time you were eight,
one check--$2,742
was the amount of the check or thereabouts.
You don't think she was entitled to that?
- No. - [Judge Acker] Why not?
Because my father have given her money.
[Judge Acker] There's no evidence of that.
And, you know, Reese,
- I--I've been gentle with you. - Yeah.
[Judge Acker] You move into a home. You pay no rent.
You say you do some chores.
How do you feel about the plaintiff?
You feel grateful?
Oh, I'm very grateful for what the grandma has done.
[Judge Acker] So, then why not drive for a rideshare company
to help this woman who's letting you live in her house for free?
Your parents didn't take Brooklyn in. She took you in.
What was the job you had for only six weeks?
That was Custom Wire.
That's where I just made technology for medicals.
[Judge Acker] What is--I don't under-- what does that mean?
Like syringes and needles, everything like that.
Why did you keep the job for only six weeks?
I got a different offer to another job.
- [Judge Acker] And did you take it? - Yes.
Tell me, how long did you live with the plaintiff?
I would say about five and a half to six months.
Over that five-and-a-half to six-month period,
how much money did you give her?
Maybe only, like, a hundred and fifty bucks
- to two hundred bucks. - [Judge Acker] A hundred
- to a hundred and fifty dollars? - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] And do you think that you could live for six months
on a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars?
- No, ma'am. - And your girlfriend,
who is not working and not in school,
you think you can support two people for six months
on a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars?
- No, ma'am. - So why did she have to sue you?
Because she needed the money back that she lost from taking care of us.
And by the way,
- you are the part of the us... - Yes, ma'am.
... that has far less right to any of her money than Brooklyn does.
That's her grandbaby who she was raising since age eight.
You show up. You should've been trying to help her out
and make this relationship better.
I hope you're not what came between it.
Judge DiMango.
Entitled, ungrateful, self-centered spoiled brats.
That's what you are.
You get up in the morning, what do you do, Brooklyn?
- Nothing. - [Judge DiMango] Nothing.
How old are you?
- [Brooklyn] Nineteen. - Other than the anxiety that you have,
because believe me, hun, you're not the only one
walking the streets with anxiety. You do nothing.
Do you think maybe if you did something, you would have more focus?
No.
So you think you're gonna spend the rest of your life doing nothing?
I mean, this thing about, "I'm gonna be a CNA,"
yeah, and I'm gonna be a-- I'm gonna be a brain surgeon.
How am I gonna do it? I'm just gonna sit here.
How are you gonna be a CNA?
You have no idea. You just made that up.
Just threw it out there. Sounds good.
You, you're even more of an ingrate 'cause she owes you nothing.
Calling the police?
You should be locked up for that alone, Reese.
Let me talk to you a little bit.
So I know you had your daughter living with you,
and your daughter has an illness according to what you said.
Was she living with you at the same time Brooklyn and Reese were living with you?
[Roberta] Yes, ma'am.
And were you getting money for her?
Uh, she gets her own money.
[Judge DiMango] So the money goes directly to her.
But the reason you were getting her money
was because the mother couldn't take care of her
and because she was a minor,
- would that be correct? - [Roberta] Yes.
Um, when they moved out, Brooklyn has received every month
- the amount that they have... - [Judge DiMango] Does it go to you
or does it go to her?
[Roberta] It's gone to me.
So every month, I would cash a check and I gave her the entire amount.
- Is that correct? - [Brooklyn] She has.
[Judge DiMango] She has been giving you the money?
- The monthly payments, yes. - [Judge DiMango] So you would think
that between the monthly money
that you're getting to sit home and get up and do nothing,
that you would say, "You know what?
She's suing me, she did take care of me,
maybe I'll just kick her back some money every month."
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
I'm gonna tell you right now, unlike my colleagues...
[laughs] I think you're the bad guy here.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Roberta Valerius is suing granddaughter Brooklyn Bruining
and boyfriend Reese Mueller
for back rent and money spent supporting them when they lived together.
But Brooklyn and Reese claim grandma is only suing
because she's angry she can't control her granddaughter anymore.
Who are you to live in somebody's house and not do anything?
"Oh, I power wash the house."
That's not compensation for living with someone.
That's what people do.
Well, Your Honor, I also-- I did some work around the house. I...
- [Judge DiMango] What'd you do? - I fixed the doors...
- [Judge DiMango] Oh. - ... I tore down the back shed...
- [Judge DiMango] Okay. - ... where the hot tub was,
and I tore up some tile in the bathroom.
[Judge DiMango] Did you use that yard or anything like that
that you were working on?
Uh, that was in the backyard, I never really went back there,
- only the front yard. - [Judge DiMango] Never went back there,
just looked at it.
When you moved out, you had no job, right?
No, I had a job. Yes. Yeah, I worked for my dad's company.
So what do you do for your dad's company?
Uh, he does--he has a construction company
- and home remodeling company. - [Judge DiMango] Uh-hmm.
And I was doing that and he just--
he gave me a fulltime schedule at $18 an hour.
[Judge DiMango] And that's where you're working now?
- [Reese] Yes, ma'am. - [Judge DiMango] And from that income,
you've never given the plaintiff a penny?
[Reese] No, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] When you were living there, who made your meals?
[Reese] She did.
[Judge DiMango] Who bought the food?
She did.
I mean, you both stand there and say this
with self-righteous attitude and an entitlement,
like, "Why should we pay her?" Right?
Why should you pay her?
So what's your plan?
Brooklyn, what's your plan?
[Brooklyn] I don't know.
[Judge DiMango] No plan. No plan.
What are you gonna do when you go home tomorrow?
Nothing. Tell me. Come on. Say it.
- I don't know. - [Judge DiMango] Nothing. You know.
You know. What do you do every day?
- Nothing. - [Judge DiMango] Nothing.
There you go. It's like a job for you.
You get up, you do nothing.
Do something with your life.
You'll be happier. I'm telling you.
Polish somebody's nails.
Start your own little home business.
You could do that. It's a skill.
And don't hide behind anxiety
because the more you hide behind it,
the more you don't address it, the more you don't work,
the more you don't do something with your own life,
the more you're gonna sink into it.
Judge Levy.
We have a witness here, Blake Bruining.
And would you step up, please?
Who are you?
That's my grandmother.
Okay. And how, if at all, are you related to the two to your left?
[Blake] That's my sister and that's her boyfriend.
- [Judge Levy] Mind if I call you Blake? - Yes, Your Honor.
- [Judge Levy] How old are you? - I'm 21.
- [Judge Levy] Do you work? - I do.
[Judge Levy] What do you do?
So I work as a sales, uh, for UScellular.
So I, like, sell cell phones, I do, like, phone contracts, and all that.
And they also live with me right now.
[Judge Levy] Okay. And do you support yourself?
I do. And I also support, um, both of them as well.
So after they left your grandmother's house,
- they came to you? - [Blake] Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Levy] Are you regretting that decision?
Um, most definitely right now.
You know, I have a lot of issues. I have talked to them several times.
Like, they also have two animals
that keep peeing and crapping on the carpet
they never let out.
Every time I come home, um, I always ask,
"Did you," like, "Hey, Reese,
did you work at all, like what did you do?"
They always seem to struggle with paying rent. I...
[Judge Levy] Who pays the rent?
- It's 50/50. - [Judge Levy] 50/50?
- Does he contribute 50% of the rent? - So how it's been going
is the Social Security money,
um, he has to rely on my sister's Social Security money.
- [Judge Levy] Is that correct? - No, ma'am--no, sir.
So I've never seen him work
and he's always like, "Hey, Brooklyn will get paid."
[Judge Levy] So you're saying he's lying.
Yes, sir.
What motive does he have right now for lying?
Yes, sir. Me and Brooklyn do 50/50 on our portion of the rent,
which is 450 each or 425 each, I would say.
[Judge Levy] Well, she don't work.
- Yeah, she gets SSI disability. - [Judge Levy] That's right.
What he's saying is, though, you don't work either.
So that's what I'm asking you.
Uh, I do work. I only work when my dad needs me.
- Currently, my dad has been... - [Judge Levy] You only work--
- so that's the issue, right? - [Blake] Yup.
So he only works when his dad says,
"Come on. I'm gonna give you money." Works for his dad.
Other than that,
- he doesn't get up in the morning... - [Blake] That's right.
[Judge Levy] ... he doesn't have any place to be,
nothing like that.
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Levy] I got it.
Do you love your sister?
I do, Your Honor.
[Judge Levy] And you want what's best for her?
Uh, yes, Your Honor.
Uh, I've been definitely trying,
um, but again, she doesn't wanna do anything.
Tell me about high school.
Did you go to high school with your sister?
[Blake] That's right, Your Honor.
- [Judge Levy] Did you graduate? - I did.
[Judge Levy] And then you went into the military?
That's right, Your Honor.
- [Judge Levy] And she got her GED? - [Roberta] No.
As far as I know, she didn't even complete any sort of education.
She dropped out.
[Judge Levy] Did she work in high school?
No. I was the one that was actually working.
I started when I was 15 years old.
- [Judge Levy] And she never worked? - Never worked.
- [Judge Levy] Why not? - [Blake] She just had no motivation,
no--like, I don't know the real reason behind it.
I didn't know what was all going on over there.
- [Judge Levy] I got it. I got it. - So, you know...
[Judge Levy] But let me ask you this.
Your grandmother says that she, your grandmother,
applied for Social Security disability payments
for your sister when she was just 17 years old.
That's two years ago.
- [Blake] That's right, Your Honor. - Right?
You don't think that your grandmother is a neglectful person,
- do you? - Not at all.
[Judge Levy] You don't think that she's an abusive person,
- do you? - No.
You don't think that if, in fact,
Brooklyn had real disability issues before she was 17,
your grandmother would've gotten help for her, right?
- That's right, Your Honor. - Right?
- She would've. - Yup.
[Judge Levy] But it wasn't until she was 17,
according to your grandmother,
that these anxiety issues popped up.
- [Blake] That's right, Your Honor. - So you didn't see any anxiety issues
when she was in high school, did you?
No, no, she was all, like, partying, you know...
Partying... that's what they do now.
[Blake] That's right.
- And that's what you've seen. - Yup.
Thank you for your honesty. You can go have a seat.
- So now, back to you, Ms. Valerius. - [Roberta] Yes.
[Judge Levy] You got a great grandson there.
- He told the truth. - [Roberta] True. Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] The only problem is,
according to the family court records in Wisconsin,
you were awarded guardianship
because your daughter, her mother, couldn't care for herself.
- And she herself was getting SSI, right? - Yeah. Yes.
And that means that she gets disability, too, at the time.
She gets money from the government, he got money from the government,
and that went to their guardian who was you, right?
- Well, she wouldn't have been... - Because I'm--'cause--
I'm gonna tell you right now, unlike my colleagues, right?
Unlike my colleagues... [laughs]
I think you're the bad guy here.
[announcer] Next time on Tribunal Justice.
You have the world in front of you, and you have an opportunity to do better.
You are going to have to make changes.
You think you guys are gonna get married?
Well, I'd hope so.
Really? And how are you gonna support each other?
Well, if--I mean, I'm--I...
You live off of her.
You can't let go of her because without her,
you're broke.
[announcer] Did someone break an agreement?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
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["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]