Men’s Wearhouse store
EDWARDSVILLE, IL - Men's clothing retailer Men's Wearhouse has been hit with a class action lawsuit accusing them of allegedly wrongly charging people who rent formal wear a $12 fee for "damage and handling,” which allegedly actually amounts to an illegal insurance contract.
In June, attorneys with the firms of Byron Carlson Petri & Kalb; and Goldenberg Heller & Antognoli, both of Edwardsville, Illinois; and Butsch Roberts & Associates, of Clayton, Missouri, filed suit in Madison County Circuit Court against the retailer.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs accuse Men's Wearhouse of allegedly violating Illinois law by charging customers the damage and handling fee when they rent tuxedos and other formal wear items. According to the complaint, the fee is assessed as a mandatory cost under the rental agreement, alongside other contract terms including price and the rental period.
According to the complaint, the fee is charged to "cover the cost of minor repairs to the rental, and the costs associated with the inspection, quality control, and processing of the rental."
However, the plaintiffs claim the fee amounts to an illegal insurance premium charged to the customer without proper notice, as the plaintiffs assert customers must pay the fee whether or not they return the item undamaged.
They further note that customers can still be charged "the full replacement cost of the item" if it is not returned or returned "damaged beyond repair."
"In this way, (Men's Wearhouse) has taken in an insurance premium of $12 and allocated the risk of minor non-Replacement Level Repairs to itself, while leaving the customer with the risk of Replacement Level Repairs," the plaintiffs said in their complaint.
"... This is the very essence of a contract of insurance under Illinois law and thus MW's practice of entering into such a contract violates" Illinois law, the plaintiffs said.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff Nate Higgins, identified only as a resident of Illinois and a Men's Wearhouse customer.
According to the complaint, Higgins rented a tuxedo from a Men's Wearhouse store in Edwardsville in November 2024 and was charged the $12 damage and handling fee, even though he allegedly returned the item undamaged.
The lawsuit seeks to expand the action to include potentially thousands of other Men's Wearhouse customers throughout Illinois who have paid the damage and handling fee when renting formal wear from the retailer.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified compensatory damages and punitive damages, plus attorney fees.
They are represented by attorneys Christopher J. Petri, of the Byron Carlson Petri firm; Kevin P. Green and Daniel S. Levy, of the Goldenberg Heller firm; and David T. Butsch and Christopher E. Roberts, of the Butsch Roberts firm.
Men's Wearhouse has not yet responded to the claims in the lawsuit.
On July 17, attorneys for Men's Wearhouse notified the Madison County court that they had removed the case to federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis.
Men's Wearhouse is represented by attorney Patrick D. Cloud, of the firm of Heyl Royster Voelker & Allen, of Edwardsville.