Cases & Developments

Opinion affirming-in-part and reversing-in-part dismissal and remanding.  Plaintiff, a student at Colorado State University during spring 2020, on behalf of herself and a putative class, brought contract and unjust enrichment claims against CSU after it ceased in-person instruction and closed campus facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.  In affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s contract claim, the Court of Appeals of Colorado held that the closures were fairly within the meaning of a state statute, included by operation of law in any contract between plaintiff and CSU, providing that the board may “temporarily suspend a university in case of fire, the prevalence of fatal diseases, or other unforeseen calamity.”  It reversed dismissal of plaintiff’s unjust enrichment claim, however, holding that because plaintiff’s remedy under her implied-in-fact contract with CSU is unavailable due to the operation of state statute, equity requires that she be permitted to pursue her claim in the alternative for unjust enrichment.   

Memorandum granting Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss.  Plaintiff, a former tenured professor at the University of Scranton, brought constitutional, contract, and defamation claims against the University and its Provost after he was terminated in May 2022 for refusing to disclose his COVID-19 vaccination status.  The court dismissed his First Amendment compelled political speech, Fourteenth Amendment privacy and bodily autonomy, and selective enforcement claims under §1983, finding that the University is not a state actor.  It dismissed his claim that he was denied the procedural requirements for dismissal outlined in the Faculty Handbook, noting that it was plaintiff’s decision not to attend his termination hearing because he would be required to mask and provide a negative COVID-19 test result.  It dismissed his defamation claim against the University and Provost, holding that he had insufficiently alleged that statements made during his termination hearing were published.   

Opinion & Order granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.  Plaintiff, a student at Manhattan College during the Spring 2020 semester, on behalf of herself and a putative class, brought contract and unjust enrichment claims against the College after it ceased in-person instruction and closed campus facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Previously, the court dismissed plaintiff’s contract claim, but it permitted her to proceed to discovery on her unjust enrichment claim regarding the College’s decision not to provide a tuition refund.  In granting summary judgment in favor of the College, the court held, first, that retention of tuition payments was not unjust, noting (1) the declared pandemic and state-mandated shutdown of non-essential businesses and (2) the continuity not only of plaintiff’s coursework, but also of extra-curricular activities and student services at the College.  It further held that the College was not enriched by retention of the payments, noting that it lost over $2 million for the fiscal year.  

Opinion reversing dismissal and remanding.  Plaintiff, a student at McKendree University during spring 2020, on behalf of herself and a putative class, brought contract and unjust enrichment claims against the University after it ceased in-person instruction and closed campus facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.  In reversing dismissal, the Seventh Circuit applied its holdings in similar recent cases to find that plaintiff had sufficiently alleged an implied contract under Illinois law through reference to various website and catalogue statements and a pre-pandemic course of practice.  It also held that plaintiff should be permitted the opportunity to amend her complaint with respect to her unjust enrichment claim to cure the error of incorporating contract allegations.  

Opinion affirming denial of governmental immunity.  Plaintiffs, students at the University of Kentucky during the spring 2020 semester, brought contract claims against the University after it ceased in-person instruction and closed campus facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.  The University Bulletin detailed different mandatory fees for students with at least one on-campus course and those studying entirely online, but the Bulletin was not referenced in the Student Financial Obligation, to which students agreed in order to register.  Affirming denial of the University’s assertion governmental immunity defense, the Supreme Court of Kentucky held that the University’s Student Financial Obligation incorporated the University Bulletin because the “two documents were delivered together, share mutuality of subject matter, and the overwhelming implication and surrounding circumstances leave no doubt that they were meant to be read together, thereby forming on binding contract.”   

Memorandum and order denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification. Plaintiffs, two students at Brandeis University during the Spring 2020 semester, on behalf of themselves and a putative class, brought contract, unjust enrichment, and conversion claims against Brandeis after it ceased in-person instruction and closed campus facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic. The district court denied certification of plaintiffs’ proposed class relating to tuition and the class relating to the studio fee charged by the University. In denying certification for the tuition class, the court held that plaintiffs could not establish the actual value of the post-covid education that students received during the Spring 2020 semester and therefore could not satisfy the predominance requirement because plaintiffs’ damages model did not account for (1) the differences between the asynchronous, online courses offered at the graduate school and the online, post-covid courses that were typically offered in real-time and taken by class members, (2) how covid-19 may have affected the value of online education, and (3) the variation in scholarships, grants, and aid provided for different programs. The court denied certification for the studio fee class and held that the existence of damages depends on the individual facts concerning each class member. 

Opinion and order reversing and remanding the denial of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a student who was enrolled at Florida International University (FIU) in 2020, on behalf of a putative class, brought contract and unjust enrichment claims against the Board of Trustees after FIU ceased in-person instruction and closed campus facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic. FIU sought dismissal, claiming that sovereign immunity barred the action since plaintiff did not produce an express, written contract. The appellate court cited to binding precedent in the jurisdiction to determine that an express contract could not be derived from student invoices and financial obligation agreements listing the relevant fees or other enabling statutes and unspecified documents. Similarly, an itemized list of paid charges did not amount to an express contract. Without an express contract, plaintiff’s claim could not overcome FIU’s sovereign immunity claim. The court also certified a modified question to the Florida Supreme Court on “whether sovereign immunity bars a breach of contract claim against a state university based on the university’s failure to provide its students with access to on campus services and facilities, notwithstanding the absence of an express, written contract to provide such services and facilities in a specific time, manner, or place[.]”