University of Washington Class Action Lawsuit Seeks Tuition Reimbursement After COVID-19 Closures

A University of Washington student has filed a class action lawsuit in an attempt to get a college tuition reimbursement after COVID-19 put a stop to on-campus learning.

Lead plaintiff Alexander Barry says students should be reimbursed because they were paying for services no longer being offered as a result of the closures, such as on-campus instruction, events and programs.

Barry accuses the university of breaches of contract, implied contract and due process, and of violating the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

According to the class action lawsuit, the University of Washington announced around March 6 that classes and finals for “Winter Quarter 2020” would not be held in person, effective March 9.

Then, on March 18, students were told the spring quarter also would not be held in-person.

“All non-essential on-campus events were cancelled,” the plaintiff says.

Barry says students and their families have paid college tuition for in-person instruction and access to buildings they are no longer allowed to enter, as well as technology and programs the university is no longer providing.

“The University of Washington is thus benefiting from COVID-19 while further burdening students and their families — many of whom have been laid-off, become ill, lost loved ones, or are otherwise bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiff says the university’s actions have caused financial damage to himself and Class Members because they didn’t receive the benefits of in-person learning and “the benefit of their bargain.” Therefore, they are entitled to recover damages.

According to Barry, the university “touts the beauty of its campus,” and while on-campus residence is not required, two-thirds of freshmen do choose to live on campus.

Students living on campus typically have many opportunities to participate in community activities and build relationships at social and academic events.

However, due to the COVID-19 campus closures, the university was unable to provide those “on-campus experiences and in-person courses,” the class action lawsuit says, adding that the school refused to refund Barry and potential Class Members “for their losses due to the campus-wide transition to online-only learning starting in the Winter Quarter 2020.”

In a statement, Barry’s attorney said “while we understand the unforeseen limitations the pandemic has placed on institutions of higher learning, we believe UW’s community and its students deserve better,” the Seattle Times reported. 

“It is our hope,” the statement continued, “that through this litigation, UW can come to recognize its responsibility to tuition-payers and the ways in which it has failed to deliver what it promised them.”

The school declined the newspaper’s request for comment on the pending class action lawsuit.

However, according to KOMO News, university spokesman Victor Balta released the following statement: “We understand and share the frustration and disappointment that students and their families are experiencing as we navigate the unprecedented limitations presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic required an immediate shift to online instruction for the final two weeks of the winter quarter. The move to largely remote operations was consistent with orders from the Governor restricting the types of activities that were allowable at institutions of higher education and elsewhere, in the interest of public health and safety. The University was clear in its communications with students and their families that the entire spring quarter, summer sessions – and the coming fall quarter – would continue to require that the vast majority of classes and experiences would be remote, providing students time to reconsider their enrollment without penalty. The University will not provide any comment on pending litigation.”

Balta said the switch to online-only instruction has actually increased the school’s “investment in instructional costs.”

The plaintiff demands a jury trial and asks the Court to award actual damages and damages in the amount of unrefunded tuition and/or fees; pre- and post-judgment interest on such monetary relief; and court costs and attorneys’ fees.

He also seeks injunctive relief, including an order stopping the university from retaining refunds for tuition or fees, as well as any other relief the Court finds appropriate.

Do you think students should have their college tuition reimbursed if they don’t have access to on-campus learning? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Steve W. Berman, Daniel J. Kurowski and Whitney K. Siehl of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Gary Lynch, Edward W. Ciolko and Nicholas A. Colella of Carlson Lynch LLP.

The On-Campus Learning College Tuition Reimbursement Class Action Lawsuit is Alexander Barry, et al. v. University of Washington, et al., Case No. unknown, in the Superior Court of the State of Washington in and for King County.

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