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Law360 (October 22, 2020, 1:41 PM EDT ) A group of students are urging a federal judge not to throw out their suit claiming Harvard University shortchanged them by refusing to reimburse their tuition when it scrapped in-person learning due to COVID-19, insisting the school failed to keep its contractual promises.
In an opposition filed late Wednesday, the students sought to rebut Harvard's attempt to have the suit dismissed, claiming that while the decision to shift to an online-only learning format during the health crisis is understandable, the failure to reimburse tuition to students who expected the in-person Harvard experience is not.
"Many parents save throughout their children's lives to send them off to college," the students' memorandum said. "Higher education is often one of the biggest investments that a family makes. But despite the existence of less-expensive online programs, many students and their families continue to pay more for an in-person education."
The reason for this, the students argue, is the "immersive educational experience" offered by a school like Harvard through interaction with faculty and students and access to campus resources.
"Though other colleges (and Harvard itself) offer less expensive online classes or programs, plaintiffs paid more for an in-person education on Harvard's campus, including in its lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, student centers, dorms, and dining halls," the students argued.
The suit against the nation's oldest university is one of several similar complaints pending in courts around the country, and the Harvard students cited cases against Florida Southern College, Ohio State University, the University of Toledo, the University of Michigan, Ball State University, Kent State University and others as examples of suits that survived motions to dismiss.
Harvard has sought to kick the case, arguing that it never expressly promised students in-person learning under any circumstances. Harvard said that while the students' frustration is understandable and shared by the school, they have no legal footing to sue.
The school has said that Massachusetts and nearly every other state rejects lawsuits based on claims that students' education was not up to par.
But the students argued Wednesday that Harvard is improperly recasting the argument, which is actually about the school's breach of contract in delivering an online-only education that is of lesser value than one where students and staff are in classrooms.
The students noted that Harvard touts its on-campus resources, claiming to offer "unparalleled resources to the university community, including libraries, laboratories, museums, and research centers to support scholarly work in nearly any field or discipline" and "access to almost every extracurricular program imaginable."
"These statements created the reasonable expectation Harvard would provide an in-person education," the students argued.
The proposed class action was filed in May by three students who were enrolled in the spring semester and had to leave campus when the pandemic took hold and schools abruptly closed their physical doors.
Harvard has argued that all of the students had the option to take a leave of absence and get some of their money back. Even with that option available, one of the plaintiffs opted to re-enroll for the fall semester, which is also being conducted with remote learning, the school said.
Counsel for the students and a Harvard representative declined to comment Thursday.
The students are represented by Daniel J. Kurowski, Kristie A. LaSalle, Steve W. Berman and Whitney K. Siehl of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; Frederick J. Klorczyk III and Alec M. Leslie of Bursor & Fisher PA; and David Pastor of Pastor Law Office LLP.
Harvard is represented by Anton Metlitsky, Jennifer B. Sokoler and Matthew Powers of O'Melveny & Myers LLP and by Rebecca M. O'Brien and Victoria L. Steinberg of Todd & Weld LLP.
The case is Student A v. Harvard University, case number 1:20-cv-10968, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
--Editing by Alyssa Miller.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
