Quinnipiac faces COVID-related class action over tuition, expenses

Photo | Contributed Quinnipiac's Mt. Carmel campus.

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By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A film student is suing Quinnipiac University, claiming students are entitled to partial refunds of tuition and other expenses because of the school’s switch to online learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

Plaintiff Zoey Metzner’s class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, claims breach of contract, unjust enrichment and conversion.

This is the latest in a string of lawsuits against colleges and universities around the country, including the University of New Haven, in which students are seeking to recover money paid to colleges and universities for the spring 2020 academic term. Students are claiming they didn’t receive the in-person classroom and campus experience they paid thousands of dollars to get.

Metzner and other class members are represented by Craig Raabe and Christopher Barrett with Izard, Kindall & Raabe of West Hartford, and the firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, which has offices in New York City and around the country.

Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, said Quinnipiac’s students reasonably anticipated experiencing all the amenities of an on-campus education, including in-person classes featuring personal interaction with faculty and staff, and full use of university facilities and residence halls.

Instead, Berman asserts that students got “Zoom classes, closed campuses and unresponsive professors.”

“We understand that Quinnipiac, like everyone, has been placed in an unforeseen, unideal circumstance, but we think its students deserve money back in light of these events,” Berman said.

Metzner, a Massachusetts resident, claims in the lawsuit that online classes weren’t comparable to traditional in-person classes in several ways.

As a film major, she ordinarily would have had use of the campus’ studio, film recording and editing equipment, according to the lawsuit. Online classes allegedly didn’t last as long. Metzner was directed to use her personal phone to try to record a film festival-worthy project. Metzner claims she wasn’t able to use design software for several weeks because of the shutdown. The lawsuit further claims Quinnipiac professors haven’t been as responsive during the shift to online classes, with some not responding at all to questions. Metzner also lost her work-study job, according to the complaint.

The cost to attend for a first-year resident for an entire year, including tuition, room and board and other expenses, is in the vicinity of $69,000, according to Quinnipiac’s website. For the 2020 spring semester only, undergraduate students paid roughly $24,280 for full-time tuition.

According to the lawsuit, Quinnipiac closed the campus and switched to online learning in mid-March, about a week before Gov. Ned Lamont imposed his “Stay Safe, Stay Home” order.

“Though the reasons for such closures are justified, the fact remains that such closures and cancellations present significant loss to (Metzner) and the class members,” the lawsuit states.

While Quinnipiac has detailed how it will be providing housing and dining credits because of the closure, it hasn’t done so in respect to tuition costs, according to the lawsuit.

“So while students enrolled and paid defendant for a comprehensive academic experience, [Quinnipiac] instead offers plaintiff and the class members something far less: a limited online experience presented by Google or Zoom, void of face-to-face faculty and peer interaction, separated from program resources, and barred from facilities vital to study,” the lawsuit states.

No attorney has filed an appearance on Quinnipiac’s behalf yet.

John Morgan, a spokesman for Quinnipiac, said the university does not comment on pending litigation.