Lawsuit Seeks Tuition Refund From Emory University Over Virtual Learning
The University of Southern California, Boston University, Brown and Duke are just a few institutions being sued by students who allege online learning hasn’t measured-up to thousands invested in a premiere education.
Freshman Emory University student Willa DeMasi is also calling for the private school to pay damages in tuition and housing costs, as well as legal fees.
DeMasi recently filed a class action lawsuit requesting tuition refunds for the 2020 spring semester, as the coronavirus pandemic forced a mass exodus of students from Emory’s campus in mid-March.
That semester has now ended. Weeks later, Emory has yet to respond in court. Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, representing DeMasi, is also filing many other suits against universities.
Class action attorney Steve Berman spoke to “Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam and said Emory refusing to issue tuition refunds is a straight breach of contract.
“Anyone who has put a kid into school knows how hard it is to come up with the tuition payments,” Berman said.
“There’s no interaction with professors, no interaction with fellow students, the activities she was doing are canceled and some of the lectures are prerecorded.”
Emory spokeswoman Laura Diamond told WABE the university would vigorously defend the litigation.
“When the spring semester was disrupted by COVID-19, Emory University continued to provide our students with an excellent education as they make academic progress toward earning a degree,” Diamond wrote in a statement.
“The university also established the $5 million EmoryTogether Fund to support undergraduate, graduate and professional students facing financial hardships resulting from COVID-19.”
Berman said the lawsuit worth it in the long run when families haven’t gotten what they bargained for – even if it takes more than a year to win the refund.
“To put it in perspective, Emory has a $7.87 billion endowment. It’s not like they can’t afford to pay some of the tuition back,” Berman said.
In a mid-May message to students and staff, Emory officials said the school anticipates an approximately $10 million shortfall for the current fiscal year due to lost revenue and incurred COVID-19-related costs. President Claire E. Sterk said she does not know the full scope of loss for the 2021 fiscal year.
Starting July 1, Sterk, the president’s leadership team and Emory deans will also have their salaries reduced by 15%.
“This reduction, which will be subject to review at the end of calendar year 2020, is not just a cost-savings step, but also a representation of the commitment the leadership team has to preserving Emory’s academic and research missions in the face of financial challenges,” the statement read.
Berman told WABE a precise amount the suit is seeking in damages hasn’t been calculated. Several other Emory students have called the law firm voicing their support.
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