Wyndham Resort Fees Class Action Drops Two Defendants

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This week, a Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed a pair of Wyndham entities from a class action lawsuit accusing the hotel chain of hiding a resort fee in its room prices, but determined that the case against the remaining defendants could proceed.

In his Wednesday order, U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak agreed that plaintiff Thomas Luca Jr. failed to sufficiently allege liability against defendants Wyndham Worldwide Corp. and Wyndham Hotel Management Inc.

In August, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the resort fee class action lawsuit, claiming that Luca failed to argue that they engaged in activities that violated New Jersey’s consumer protection laws.

The judge dismissed WWC and WHM from the Wyndham resort fee class action lawsuit with prejudice, leaving room for Luca to address the judge’s concerns and potentially open WWC and WHM to liability in the future.

Wyndham Hotel Group and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts LLC also filed an August motion to dismiss the resort fee class action lawsuit, but Judge Hornak was not persuaded by their argument that Luca’s Consumer Fraud Act claim was precluded by the repeated disclosures on the website regarding the costs and fees.

Judge Hornak found that Luca identified the advertised cost of the room, the allegedly undisclosed taxes and costs, and the final cost that was listed on his invoice. The judge determined that these allegations were sufficient to allow the Wyndham resort fee class action lawsuit to proceed against WHG and WHR.

WHG and WHR argued that Luca could not bring a claim under New Jersey law because he booked a hotel room in Miami. However, the judge rejected that argument because the resort fee class action lawsuit reportedly alleges that the website’s terms of use contain a New Jersey choice-of-law provision.

Judge Hornak also rejected challenges to Luca’s New Jersey Truth-In-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act claims.

Luca initially filed the Wyndham resort fee class action lawsuit in June 2016, claiming Wyndham charges daily “resort fees” to customers who book through the website. He claims the Wyndham defendants fail to adequately disclose the fee as part of the true cost of renting a hotel room, leading consumers to believe they will pay substantially less than they are actually charged for a room at a Wyndham hotel.

According to the Wyndham class action lawsuit, these resort fees violate the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and the New Jersey Truth-In-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act.

In September, Luca filed a motion opposing the Wyndham defendants’ motions to dismiss his resort fee class action lawsuit, contending that the defendants actively participated in and received benefits from the allegedly deceptive scheme to impose the resort fees without clearly disclosing them to consumers.

Luca is represented by Gary F. Lynch, R. Bruce Carlson, Jamisen A. Etzel and Kevin Abramowicz of Carlson Lynch Sweet Kipela & Carpenter LLP; Joseph J. DePalma, Katrina Carroll and Kyle A. Shamberg of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC; and Joseph P. Guglielmo and Erin Green Comite of Scott & Scott LLP.

The Wyndham Resort Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Thomas Luca Jr. v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-00746, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: On June 5, 2018, a customer turned plaintiff is defending his resort fees class action claims against two Wyndham hotel companies, arguing that a recent high court decision does not invalidate his allegations.

UPDATE 2: On Oct. 15, 2018, a Wyndham Hotel guest who claims the company tricks customers into purchasing hotel rooms by hiding resort fees has asked a Pennsylvania federal court to grant Class certification in the lawsuit.

UPDATE 3: On Jan. 16, 2019, a federal judge dropped one allegation in the Wyndham resort fees class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 4: On Oct. 15, 2019, Wyndham reached a proposed settlement deal with customers who claimed that the company used “drip pricing” to conceal the full price of room booking from guests.

UPDATE 5: December 2019, the Wyndham resort fee class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.