Call it a case of fancy pants. Or the pantsuit.

It started when a Washington, D.C., drycleaner misplaced a pair of Roy L. Pearson Jr.’s gray wool pants in 2005. Two years later, Pearson is seeking more than $67 million in damages from the owners of Custom Cleaners for a slew of reasons that stem from this one pair of pants.

Pearson’s argument: Soo and Jin Nam Chung, the owners of Custom Cleaners, and their son Ki, owe him the millions for putting him through “mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort” and causing him to incur legal fees. Pearson is basing his case on Washington, D.C.’s consumer protection law, which imposes $1,500 per day fines for each violation. Twelve violations multiplied by 1,200 days, in addition to multiplying that number by three for each of the Chungs.

In addition, the suit demands that the Chungs pay him $15,000 so he can rent a car every week for 10 years to drive to a different drycleaner, as well as $500,000 in emotional damages and $542,000 in legal fees.

“It’s been very difficult for them, emotionally and physically,” said Chris Manning, an attorney hired by the family who spoke on behalf of the Chungs. “This has taken a toll for two years. … They don’t really understand how one pair of pants can turn into a lawsuit like this.”

The customer-client relationship, which began in 2000, unraveled in 2005. Two years before that, the Chungs had given Pearson a $150 check to replace a pair of pants that Pearson said the family lost. He took the money, but continued to patronize the business, Manning said.

In May of 2005, Pearson dropped off a pair of pants for a $10.50 alteration and told the cleaners — who had signs posted that read “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service” at the store — that he needed the pants two days later. He wanted to wear the pants for his new job as an administrative judge.

When the owners couldn’t find the pants on the pickup day, Pearson was not happy. He wanted more than $1,000 from the Chungs to buy a replacement suit because he claimed the missing pants were part of an expensive Hickey Freeman brand suit set.

When the drycleaners found the pants a week later, Pearson claimed they weren’t his. The Chungs insisted, and still argue, that the gray trousers are his. And the pants weren’t Hickey Freemans, according to Manning.

Pearson refused to take the pants and decided to sue, claiming that the signs at Custom Cleaners were misleading and amounted to fraud.

Time passed, and the Chungs offered $3,000, then $4,600 and then $12,000 to opt out of the case. The figure ballooned to $50,000. Pearson wasn’t satisfied.

He wanted $67 million.

“Claims such as these are ridiculous,” Manning said. “He’s trying to claim that he has a right to have a drycleaner four blocks from his house.”