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

Following up on my previous post:  Harvard Crimson, Class Action Lawsuit Demanding Tuition Reimbursement Moves Forward After Judge Reverses Dismissal:

In June 2021, Massachusetts District Court Judge Indira Talwani dismissed a class action lawsuit against Harvard University asking for partial tuition reimbursement for semesters with virtual classes. Nearly a year later, a new judge assigned to the case has revived it.

Judge Angel Kelley reversed Talwani’s dismissal of the lawsuit in March, but ruled that the case could only extend to students enrolled at the Law School, the Graduate School of Education, and the School of Public Health during the spring 2020 semester. ...

Abraham Barkhordar, one of the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit and a current third-year student at the Law School, described the stark differences between his experience with in-person and online semesters. “The remote semesters lacked so much of the peer-to-peer interaction — just meeting people in the laundry room or as you’re walking around the dorms,” he said. “That doesn’t happen online.”

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• D.C. Circuit Revives COVID Tuition Refund Lawsuits Against American, George Washington Universities (Mar. 10, 2022)
• Columbia Settles COVID-19 Class Action Tuition Refund Suit For $12.5 Million (Nov. 27, 2021)
• Federal Judge Dismisses Harvard Law Students' COVID-19 Tuition Refund Class Action (June 24, 2021)
• 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)