Coronavirus Class Action Says Universities Withheld COVID-19 Refunds

The University of California and California State University systems face class action lawsuits after failing to refund fees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

University of California Failure to Refund Class Action Lawsuit

The University of California COVID-19 failure to refund class action lawsuit challenges the university system’s failure to refund fees that students paid for housing, meal plans and activities after the campuses closed.

The UC coronavirus class action lawsuit was filed by Claire Brandmeyer, a student at UC Davis. She says she paid the cost of fees at the school for the spring 2020 semester, but left campus in mid-March to comply with the university’s policies around COVID-19.

She says she was not offered any refunds of the fees she paid for the semester.

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According to Brandmeyer, the university charged mandatory fees to attend the school, including a Student Services Fee, which was around $1,100. Allegedly, students at the schools also paid compulsory campus-based student fees. For UC Davis, Brandmeyer explains that these fees include health fees, maintenance fees, campus expansion initiative, union fees, and others.

The UC pandemic response class action lawsuit notes that in response to COVID-19, the universities began requiring students to take classes remotely.

Additionally, the universities instructed most students to leave campus for the remainder of the semester. The universities also allegedly canceled on-campus and co-curricular activities.

Nonetheless, the schools reportedly continue to charge for services that are part of the students’ on campus experience.

Brandmeyer argues that it is wrong for the universities to fail to refund students, particularly since the University of California system received more than $240 million to help deal with the costs associated with the coronavirus.

She notes that some of this money must go directly to students. She stresses that the funds are “intended to be used as emergency cash grants, not as a vehicle for universities to retain money that is not theirs to retain.”

The plaintiff states that the universities failed to use the funds as intended, and wrongly passed costs off to students.

California State University Coronavirus Closures Refund Class Action Lawsuit

The California State University COVID-19 class action lawsuit makes similar claims to the University of California COVID-19 class action lawsuit, challenging the university system’s retention of student fees after closing campuses, despite receiving federal aid.

The CSU coronavirus closures class action lawsuit was filed by Akayla Miller, a student at Sonoma State University.

She says she paid her school fees for the spring 2020 semester, but similarly to Brandmeyer, has not returned to campus since the school was closed to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The California State University system charges its students a range of fees to attend, many of which allegedly directly deal with services provided on campus.

Miller says that depending on the campus location of the school, California State University students pay between $847 and $4,201 in fees to attend.

The CSU class action lawsuit notes that after the California governor issued a stay-at-home order on March 19, 2020, the university system required students to leave campus and not return for the rest of the semester, and began offering classes online. Some exceptions were allegedly made for students to stay on campus if they did not have another place to go.

Despite canceling on-campus services and activities, the universities have allegedly not returned students their fees.

Miller makes claims of breach of contract and unjust enrichment. She also makes a claim of conversion, saying that the university attempted to charge students for one service but provided another, by moving classes online, and canceling services and events.

Brandmeyer and Miller are both represented by C. Moze Cowper and Noel E. Garcia of Cowper Law PC; Adam J. Levitt, Amy E. Keller, and Laura E. Reasons of DiCello Levitt Gutzler LLC and Matthew S. Miller of Mathew S. Miller LLC.

The California State University COVID-19 Fees Reimbursement Class Action Lawsuit is Akayla Miller v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, Case No. 2:20-cv-03833, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The University of California COVID-19 Fees Reimbursement Class Action Lawsuit is Claire Brandmeyer v. The Regents of the University of California, Case No. 4:20-cv-02886, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Join a Free Coronavirus College Refund Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If your college or university closed because of the coronavirus, but you did not receive a refund for tuition, room and board or other fees, you may be able to join this coronavirus school refund class action lawsuit investigation.

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