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Class Action -Tuition Reimbursement

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//April 3, 2023//

Class Action -Tuition Reimbursement

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//April 3, 2023//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Omar Hernandez v. Illinois Institute of Technology

Case No.: 22-1741

Officials: Wood, St. Eve, and Kirsch, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Class Action -Tuition Reimbursement

Omar Hernandez seeks a partial refund of the tuition and fees he (along with the members of the classes he would like to represent) paid to the Illinois Institute of Technology for the Spring 2020 semester. In March 2020, IIT halted in-person classes, switched to all-online instruction, and restricted access to its campus and facilities for the remainder of the semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The district court granted IIT’s motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) to dismiss all counts for failure to state a claim. It found that Hernandez failed to identify any promise to provide in person, on-campus instruction that was specific enough to support an express or implied breach-of-contract claim

While this appeal was pending, the Seventh Circuit decided Gociman v. Loyola University of Chicago, 41 F.4th 873 (7th Cir. 2022), which involved similar claims brought by Loyola students, holding that the plaintiff students adequately stated claims for breach of an implied contract under Illinois law, and that their claims were not educational malpractice complaints in disguise.

Finding no meaningful distinctions between his case and Gociman, the Seventh Circuit holds that Hernandez has alleged enough to go forward.

Reversed and remanded

Decided 03/27/23

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