(Business 2.0) – Being forced to pay twice to get your own money has always seemed unfair. Now it's up to the federal courts to decide whether it's also illegal. In May, a U.S. District Court in San Francisco will decide whether a proposed class-action suit against Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and others has enough merit to move forward. Though the California case is the first, similar lawsuits have been filed in New York and Washington. The suits aren't challenging the $1.50 or so that you expect to pay to use another bank's ATM, but rather the $1 to $2 surcharge applied by your own bank. The plaintiffs contend that the debits are unnecessary and amount to price-fixing. Should the courts agree, the banks could be forced to pay hundreds of millions in damages.