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“It’s horrendous,” said lawyer Ken Arenson, Dr. Arenson’s former husband who has represented her throughout the lengthy case.

“It was shocking to us and really casts into doubt whether the class-action system works in public interest litigation.”

Both the certification dismissal and the cost rulings will be appealed, said Mr. Arenson.

“We never went into this thing for the money,” he said, noting Dr. Arenson’s loss was only a few dollars put into two parking meters and $31 for the fine, which was paid.

“This is about small wrongs multiplied over a great number of people. We still think the city is taking money out of the parkers’ pockets and we want to investigate this in a transparent manner. We are open to making some kind of settlement if it leads to an impartial investigation that is publicly available.”

The city’s lawyer handling the case could not be reached Thursday.

Dr. Arenson’s odyssey started on a dark and stormy night.

She pulled her black Mercedes into a parking spot on Bayview Avenue, near the hospital where she works, during a blizzard in November 2007. She pushed $3 into the meter, court heard, but the machine failed to print the receipt that is supposed to be placed on the car’s dash as proof of payment.

She walked a block to another machine and tried again, with the same result. She then went for dinner. When she emerged, a $31.50 parking ticket was on her windshield.

The fact that neither machine worked suggests an inherent defect in the machines during such weather, Mr. Arenson said. As such, there could be tens of thousands of motorists in the same situation over the decade the machines have been used.