Federal Judge Dismisses Harvard Law Students' COVID-19 Tuition Refund Class Action

Following up on my previous posts (links below):  Harvard Crimson, Mass. District Court Dismisses Lawsuit Demanding Harvard Refund Tuition For Pandemic Closure:

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by three Harvard graduate students in 2020 over the University’s refusal to partially refund tuition as classes moved online early in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The class action lawsuit alleged that Harvard acted unlawfully in shifting to virtual coursework without providing partial tuition and fee refunds for students’ lost on-campus experiences due to the Covid-19 crisis.

In Monday’s ruling, District Judge Indira Talwani ’82 granted the University’s motion to dismiss the suit, which argued that the plaintiffs failed to prove Harvard breached an express and implied contract with students.

Law School student Abraham Barkhordar and Sarah E. Zelasky — then a student at School of Public Health — initially filed separate complaints in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts that were combined into one class action lawsuit last July.

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Although Courts Have Dismissed Many Of The 300+ COVID-19 Tuition Refund Lawsuits, Dozens Are Proceeding Toward Trial; Colleges Have Settled Two Of The Cases And Paid Millions In Damages (May 20, 2021)
• Courts Differ On Whether Colleges Should Pay Tuition Refunds For Classes Shifted Online During COVID-19 (Apr. 23, 2021)
• Federal Judge Dismisses Santa Clara Law Students' COVID-19 Tuition Refund Class Action (Apr. 15, 2021)
• Federal Judge Allows Student Tuition Refund Class Action To Proceed Against Quinnipiac University Over COVID-19 Shift To Online Learning (Apr. 14, 2021)
• GWU And NYU Beat Student COVID-19 Tuition Refund Lawsuits (Mar. 31, 2021)
• Legislation Would Force Kansas Colleges To Give Students 50% Tuition Refunds For Classes Shifted Online Due To COVID-19 (Feb. 18, 2021)
• Update On Student Tuition Refund Lawsuits Following Colleges' Shift To Online Classes During COVID-19 (Oct. 6, 2020)