A judge has granted class certification in a lawsuit against the University of Minnesota that seeks larger refunds of mandatory student fees paid during the spring 2020 semester, when students were urged to go home to avoid catching and spreading the coronavirus.
The class representatives are Steven Staubus, a freshman in 2020 who had returned home to Illinois for spring break and stayed there the rest of the semester, and Patrick Hyatte, who was a senior music student from St. Paul who had an ensemble performance canceled.
Both said they supported the March 2020 decision to shut down campus activities and move classes online due to health concerns but that the refunds they received were insufficient.
“We weren’t able to access the services in person and on campus and fully the way they were advertised,” Staubus said in a February deposition.
2020 refund
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents in early April 2020 approved $27.8 million in refunds for students throughout the system. Four days later, in response to criticism and in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit, the board upped that amount to $35.4 million.
Students got full, pro-rated refunds for housing, dining, parking, transportation, safety and recreation and wellness. The U refunded just half the remaining fees for student government and student services, “in recognition that student groups are no longer able to meet in person, although many continue to meet virtually, and other student service activities are modified from original plans.”
Students got no refunds for fees that fund building improvements and pay off the football stadium’s debt.
In a January deposition, President Joan Gabel said many student services continued in spring 2020 even though few students remained on campus.
“We put up services that didn’t even exist before in order to take care of students,” she said. “We were figuring out every possible thing we could do to maximize the student experience academically … (and) beyond the classroom.”
The U even kept paying student workers, including Staubus, for jobs they no longer had to do.
Gabel said she knew the refunds for housing, dining and student fees would be expensive but said that was not a factor when deciding how much to give back.
“The only thing I relied on was what I thought was fair for students,” she said.
Staubus and Hyatte each filed separate lawsuits in Hennepin County District Court in 2020. Hyatte initially sought refunds for both tuition and student fees, but a judge dismissed the tuition claim, and the two cases were consolidated.
Certification granted last week
District Judge Laurie Miller granted class certification last week, which will allow all similarly situated students to be treated equally, depending on the outcome of the case.
If the class representatives win at trial or reach a settlement with the U, more than 60,000 students throughout the five-campus system – anyone who was charged mandatory fees that semester – stand to get paid.
A spokesman for the U declined to comment, noting that the U has a motion pending before the court that could resolve the case in its favor.
The class action is one of hundreds like it throughout the country, some of which have resulted in payouts. Rutgers University, for one, agreed to a $5 million settlement, which is roughly $60 per student.
One of the local attorneys for the class, Matt Morgan with the Nichols Kaster law firm in Minneapolis, did not return a phone message. Also serving as class counsel are Minneapolis-based Pearson, Simon & Warshaw; the Chicago-based Stephan Zouras; and New York-based Sultzer Law Group and Leeds Brown.