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Law360 (June 12, 2020, 3:13 PM EDT) -- DePaul University is the latest to be hit with a proposed class action by students seeking refunds of fees and tuition given the restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus, telling an Illinois federal court they "lost the benefit of the education for which they paid."
DePaul, a private, Catholic University in Chicago, has not held any in-person classes since March 11. Named plaintiff Alhix Oyoque said in a complaint filed Thursday that in closing its facilities, DePaul has failed to deliver the educational services and opportunities it promised.
The online learning options offered to DePaul students for part of the winter 2020 quarter and the entire spring 2020 quarter — and the entire spring 2020 academic semester for students in DePaul's School of Law — are "subpar in practically every aspect," Oyoque said, citing a lack of access to facilities, learning materials and faculty.
"Students have been deprived of the opportunity for collaborative learning and in-person dialogue, feedback, and critique," she said. "The remote learning options are in no way the equivalent of the in-person education that plaintiff and the putative class members contracted and paid for."
Oyoque and other members of the proposed class didn't choose to attend an online institution of higher learning; they chose to enroll on an in-person basis, she said. And DePaul markets its on-campus experience as a benefit of enrollment on its website, according to the complaint.
"Plaintiff and the class are therefore entitled to a refund of all tuition and fees for services, facilities, access and/or opportunities that defendants have not provided," Oyoque said. "Even if defendants claim they did not have a choice in cancelling in-person classes, they nevertheless have improperly retained funds for services it is not providing."
Oyoque, who graduated after the spring term, was an undergraduate student at DePaul, pursuing a bachelor's degree in health science, and claims in-person classes are particularly critical to her field of study because it requires "in-person instruction, feedback, and a high level of collaboration."
She paid roughly $3,800 in tuition to DePaul for the spring quarter but hasn't received a refund, despite the cancellation of in-person classes in March, according to the complaint.
Oyoque is suing for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and conversion, and she seeks to represent a class of all people who paid DePaul's spring 2020 term tuition, and whose tuition and fees haven't been refunded.
Representatives for the parties did not immediately return requests for comment Friday.
Oyoque and the proposed class are represented by Carl. V. Malmstrom of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLC and L. Timothy Fisher, Neal J. Deckant and Sarah N. Westcot of Bursor & Fisher PA.
Counsel information for DePaul could not be immediately determined Friday.
The case is Oyoque et al. v. DePaul University et al., case number 1:20-cv-03431, in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.
--Editing by Alyssa Miller.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
