Hat tip to reader Michael who forwarded us this MSNBC story chronicling the saga of D.C. resident Raelyn Campbell and her efforts to get a laptop computer repaired at the Tenleytown Best Buy.

Six months after bringing a damaged laptop computer into a Best Buy electronics store for repairs, and three months after the firm admitted losing it, Campbell filed the whopper of a lawsuit recently in Washington, D.C., Superior Court.

Best Buy has told Campbell that her demands are unreasonable, and has tried to settle for far less. But Campbell said she didn’t start out making astronomical demands. Months of stalling and brush-offs by the company led her to the drastic measures, she said.

That $54 million figure sounds familiar because it’s the exact same amount former administrative law Judge Roy Pearson eventually sued Custom Cleaners for over his misplaced pants (his original claim was for $67 million, but he later reduced it).

Surely, Campbell didn’t arrive at that figure by accident. By suing not only for an outrageous sum, but also for the exact same amount Pearson famously sued for, she’s hoping to get as much publicity out of this lawsuit as possible. She’s already been blogging about her experience with Best Buy, which does indeed sound incredibly frustrating, since December. Since she filed the lawsuit, Best Buy has offered Campbell $2,500 plus a full refund and a $900 gift card, but Campbell isn’t backing down, saying she wants a better explanation of how her computer could have been stolen, and a promise from the company that it will train employees better about theft and privacy issues.

People were outraged over Roy Pearson’s lawsuit against a small, family-run business over a pair of pants – but we’re curious to see what the reaction to Campbell’s suit, for the exact same amount, against a giant corporation over a personal computer, will be.