Goldberg v. Pace Univ.

• Decision Date: 21 April 2021
• Docket Number: 20 Civ. 3665 (PAE)
• Parties: Brett GOLDBERG, Plaintiff, v. PACE UNIVERSITY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

535 F.Supp.3d 180

Brett GOLDBERG, Plaintiff,

v.PACE UNIVERSITY, Defendant.

20 Civ. 3665 (PAE)

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

Signed April 21, 2021

Morris E. Cohen, Lee A. Goldberg, Goldberg Cohen LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff.

Gregory Bertram Reilly, III, Aisling Margaret McAllister, Samuel G. Dobre, Bond, Schoenek & King, New York, NY, Jonathan B. Fellows, Bond, Shoeneck et ano., Suzanne Marie Messer, Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, Syracuse, NY, for Defendant.

OPINION & ORDER

PAUL A. ENGELMAYER, District Judge:

In spring 2020, confronted with the spread of COVID-19, undergraduate and graduate schools across the country rapidly transitioned to online instruction, to protect students, faculty, and staff. In response, students at many schools have brought suit, generally sounding in breach of contract, to recover tuition and fees paid for, purportedly, in-person experiences. Although some courts have construed these claims as impermissible claims of educational malpractice, others have sustained such claims, finding it well-pled that the college or university breached a specific and enforceable contractual promise that learning or other services would be in-person.

Plaintiff Brett Goldberg ("Goldberg") is a performing arts graduate student. He sues Pace University ("Pace") to recover damages in connection with Pace's transition to remote learning in March 2020 in light of the pandemic. Goldberg alleges that Pace breached its contract with him by transitioning his last semester to remote learning, postponing the production of his play, and retaining certain fees. He also brings claims for unjust enrichment and promissory estoppel, and a claim under New York General Business Law ("GBL") § 349.

Now pending is Pace's motion for judgment on the pleadings, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), for failure to state a claim. For the following reasons, the Court grants in part and denies in part Pace's motion.

I. Background

A. Factual Background¹

1. The Actors Studio Program

As of the start of 2020, Goldberg, an aspiring playwright, was enrolled as a full-time third-year student in Pace's Master of Fine Arts ("MFA") three-year graduate program at The Actors Studio Drama School ("The Actors Studio"). SAC ¶¶ 17–18.

The Actors Studio program anticipated an in-person education, including on Pace's premises in downtown New York City. Id. ¶¶ 19, 27. Pace advertised that students in the program—actors, directors, and playwrights—would train "side-by-side" for three years. Id. ¶ 27; see also id. , Ex. 10 at 3 (welcome letter from late Dean James Lipton on Actors Studio website). It further advertised that the program's "black-box studios for professional training are designed and equipped according to state-of-the-art standards," and emphasized the benefits of the program's New York City location. Id. ¶ 27. Pace promised, "inter alia , networking and mentorship opportunities, and in-person collaboration with other students and professors, including but not limited to, readings and ‘workshopping’ of [Goldberg's] plays and screenplays." Id. ¶ 19. Pace further promised "faculty and student collaboration spaces." Id.

In addition to its in-person offerings, Pace offers online programs, which it specifically identifies before the student enrolls and pays. Id. ¶¶ 72–73. Goldberg's MFA program, however, was not labeled as such. Id. ¶ 74. Pace's online programs are significantly less expensive than the in-person graduate program in which Goldberg enrolled. Id. ¶¶ 25–26 (describing online Masters in Humanities American History Emphasis Program).

An important feature of the Actors Studio program is its Repertory Season ("Rep-Season"). It culminates in the third year of the program, when three groups of participants (actors, directors, and playwrights) work together to create and perform professionally produced plays for industry professionals and the public. See id. ¶¶ 37, 116; see also id. , Ex. 8 (Actors Studio curriculum information). The playwriting program is "built around the Rep-Season," which gives students an opportunity to present their production to the general public. Preparation for the Rep-Season begins "with the first-year playwriting class in which the play for the Rep-Season is chosen." Id. ¶ 32. The Rep-Season production is "workshopped the entire second year in an effort to prepare [students] for the production the following year." Id. In the third year, the students "hone[ ]" the production. Id. Pace advertised Rep-Season as a distinguishing aspect of its graduate program. In its marketing materials to aspiring playwrights, Pace stated that student-developed full-length plays would be staged by the program directors and actors. Id. ¶ 37. It further advertised Rep-Season as a unique opportunity to "introduce graduating students to the professional world and the public in fully-professional productions of the work they have created during their three years of study." Id. ¶ 4; see also id. ¶ 36 ("In their final year, all Actors Studio Drama School students present their work to the professional world and the public, in a fully-produced professional Repertory Season at a theater in downtown Manhattan"); id. , Ex. 2 (Rep-Season advertisement in Spring 2020 Magazine).

In connection with Rep-Season performances, the third-year curriculum includes a year-long course, "Process Lab," in which student plays are workshopped and rehearsed. Id. ¶¶ 32, 101. The Process Lab syllabus indicates that this course would meet in person. Id. ¶ 22; see also id. , Ex. 7 ("Process Lab Syllabus") (Fall and Spring 2019–2020 semesters). To this end, its syllabus explains that "emails have proven to be counter-productive, [and] all issues regarding the project shall be dealt with in the classroom sessions face-to-face." Process Lab Syllabus at 3. The syllabus also explains how students are to care for the classroom. See id. at 4. The SAC alleges that Pace, in general, required students to attend in person, and that failure to do so would harm the student's grade. See SAC ¶ 20.

2. Impact of COVID-19

On or about January 27, 2020, Goldberg began his final Spring term at Pace. The term was scheduled to conclude on or about May 16, 2020. Id. ¶¶ 78–79.

On March 10, 2020, in response to the spreading pandemic, Pace transitioned all classes to online instruction for the remainder of the semester. Id. ¶¶ 80, 82. Consequently, Goldberg's classes were moved online. Id. ¶ 89. Additionally, Pace put the spring 2020 Rep-Season "on hold." It identified two potential means for rescheduling Rep-Season, contingent on the status of the pandemic—one in which Rep-Season would be held between mid-April and late-May 2020, and the other in which it would be held between September 23 and November 7, 2020. Id. ¶ 86; id. , Ex. 6 at 1–2 (email from Executive Director discussing 2020 Rep Reboot). Shawn Lewis, the program's executive director, acknowledged that were Pace to choose the second, later option, "[s]ome students and staff may not be able to participate, having moved away from NYC." Id. ¶ 94; id. , Ex. 6.

Goldberg alleges that, beginning in fall 2017, he had drafted his Rep-Season play for specific actors in his class, and that the director with whom he was working spent two years working with the actors in preparation for Rep-Season. Id. ¶ 99. Goldberg also alleges that he was available in New York City had Pace pursued the later second option. See Ex. 6 at 2. However, given the duration of the pandemic, neither Rep-Season plan came to fruition. Dkt. 38 ("Answer") ¶ 8. Pace has since advised program participants that it plans to reschedule the Rep-Season "as soon as reasonabl[y] possible over the summer and fall terms." Dkt. 28 ("Opp'n") at 16 n.11. As a result of COVID-19, the corresponding "Process Lab" course in which students prepared Rep-Season plays was also postponed. Pace has advised program participants that this course, too, will resume once it becomes feasible to hold the Rep-Season. See SAC ¶ 90; id. , Ex. 5 at 2 ("It is [Pace's] intention that these [5 Process Lab classes] will be more than made up.").

3. Status of Goldberg's Payments and Fees

Goldberg has fully paid Pace tuition for all three years of his graduate program, including for the spring 2020 semester. Id. ¶ 18. Goldberg has also paid Pace three mandatory fees. These are the General Institution Fee, which covers "costs associated with ancillary services provided to students which are not covered by tuition," ² the University Health Care Fee,³ and the Technology Fee.⁴ Id. ¶¶ 28–29. Pace states that it has consolidated the services comprising each fee into "one concise fee." Graduate Catalog, Special Course Fees.

Pace has not reimbursed any portion of Goldberg's tuition or the mandatory fees. SAC ¶¶ 8–9, 30. Goldberg alleges that as a result of being barred from campus during the pandemic, he has been unable to benefit from the services that the mandatory fees were intended to cover. Id. ¶ 30.

Pace's Graduate Catalog contains an "Emergency Closings and Other Changes in Class Schedules" provision. Relevant to tuition or fee refunds, it states that Pace may adjust class schedules and extend "time for completion of class assignments" in the event of "unforeseen circumstances." See Answer, Ex. C; see also Graduate Catalog, Emergency Closings and Other Changes in Class Schedules , https://pace.smartcatalogiq.com/2019-2020/Graduate-Catalog/Academic/Academic-Policies-and-General-Regulations/Emergency-Closings-and-Other-Changes-in-Class-Schedules. In the event of such an occurrence or a "failure of a class to conclude on the date originally scheduled," the Graduate Catalog states, Pace "shall not be responsible for the refund of any tuition or fees." Graduate Catalog, Emergency Closings and Other Changes in Class Schedules.

B. Procedural History

On May 13, 2020, Goldberg filed the initial complaint, seeking recoupment of tuition and fees attributable to the period after Pace commenced online...