Event hosts: the brochure, the contract, and the invoice
A call-out from Madgett Law, LLC, the law firm that publishes Minnesota Junk Fees. It says who we are looking for and which documents we would like to see.
Who we are looking for
Anyone who hosted a wedding, reception, graduation, funeral luncheon, or other private event in Minnesota on or after January 1, 2025 — the date Minn. Stat. § 325D.44, subd. 1a took effect under Laws 2024, chapter 111, sections 1 and 2; for banquet and catering the Attorney General’s office reads the law to apply to contracts signed on or after that date — and whose final bill carried a percentage service charge that was not inside the prices you were quoted.
What we want to see
- The menu, brochure, or proposal you priced from — whatever showed you the per-plate or per-person numbers
- The signed contract and the banquet event order, including the page with the date on it
- The final invoice showing the percentage line and what the venue called it
Why
Minnesota law requires that a price a business advertises, displays, or offers “include all mandatory fees or surcharges.” Minn. Stat. § 325D.44, subd. 1a(a). The statute shelters a food or beverage establishment that discloses “the percentage of any automatic and mandatory gratuities charged” — and “gratuities” is a defined term in Minnesota’s wage law, which is why the words on your invoice matter as much as the number. Madgett Law, LLC is a law firm evaluating whether Minnesota banquet and catering pricing practices can be challenged on behalf of the people who paid.
What happens when you send it
A lawyer reads it. Most submissions will not become a case. Sending documents does not make you a client of Madgett Law, LLC, and nothing here is advice about your contract.
Read the law first
The Service Charge on Your Wedding or Banquet Invoice — including where a fee like this is lawful. It is worth ten minutes before you fill in a form.