Polley v. Northwestern University

• Decision Date: 16 September 2021
• Docket Number: Case No. 20 C 4798
• Citation: 560 F.Supp.3d 1197
• Parties: Nathaniel POLLEY, Nancy Quiroz, Surya Veeravalli, and Daniel Greenwald, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

560 F.Supp.3d 1197

Nathaniel POLLEY, Nancy Quiroz, Surya Veeravalli, and Daniel Greenwald, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs,

v.NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, Defendant.

Case No. 20 C 4798

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

Filed September 15, 2021

Signed September 16, 2021

David A. Searles, Pro Hac Vice, Edward Henri Skipton, Pro Hac Vice, James A. Francis, Pro Hac Vice, John Soumilas, Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, Jordan M. Sartell, Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., Wheaton, IL, Kathleen Patricia Lally, Lynch Carpenter, LLP, Chicago, IL, Yvette Golan, The Golan Firm, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff Nathaniel Polley.

Kathleen Patricia Lally, Lynch Carpenter, LLP, Chicago, IL, Yvette Golan, The Golan Firm, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff Nancy Quiroz.

Michael Alexander Tompkins, Pro Hac Vice, Leeds Brown Law, P.C., Carle Place, NY, Kathleen Patricia Lally, Lynch Carpenter, LLP, Chicago, IL, Yvette Golan, The Golan Firm, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff Surya Veeravalli.

Daniel A. Edelman, Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin LLC, Kathleen Patricia Lally, Lynch Carpenter, LLP, Chicago, IL, Yvette Golan, The Golan Firm, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff Daniel Greenwald.

Craig Christopher Martin, Brienne M. Letourneau, Chloe E. Holt, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Chicago, IL, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Harry D. Leinenweber, Judge A number of current and former students at Northwestern University have brought this action against their alma mater on behalf of themselves and others who attended virtual classes during the 2020 and 2021 school years. Plaintiffs allege that the decision to move to virtual schooling was a breach of contract, or, in the alternative, unjust enrichment. (Dkt. No. 20.) Northwestern has moved to dismiss the Consolidated Class Action Complaint. (Dkt. No. 26.) In response, Plaintiffs moved to strike Paragraphs 7 through 13 and Exhibit 8 to the Declaration of Jacqualyn Casazza, Exhibit 2 to the Declaration of Mudita Rastogi, and Exhibits 2, 6, and 7 to the Declaration of Jonathan Yates, and all corresponding arguments in Northwestern's memorandum. (Dkt. No. 40.)

For the reasons stated herein, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike is denied in part and granted in part, and Northwestern's Motion to Dismiss is granted. The case is dismissed without prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization ("WHO") officially held that the ongoing spread of COVID-19 was a pandemic. March 11, 2020: ‘The day everything changed’ (March 11, 2021) https://abc7chicago.com/march-11-2020-covid-us-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/10406695. On March 20, 2020, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker ordered Illinois citizens to stay at home and ordered all non-essential activities to cease. ILLINOIS OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR , Executive Order 2020-10 (March 20, 2020), https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/Executive-Orders/ExecutiveOrder 2020-10.aspx. Northwestern University, along with many other schools in Illinois, decided to divert their college courses to online instruction instead of in-person gatherings. See, e.g., Buschauer v. Columbia Coll. Chicago , No. 20 C 3394, 2021 WL 1293829 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 6, 2021), Oyoque v. DePaul Univ. , 520 F.Supp.3d 1058 (N.D. Ill. 2021) ; Gociman v. Loyola Univ. of Chi. , 515 F.Supp.3d 861 (N.D. Ill. 2021). The plaintiffs to this lawsuit argue this decision to move to virtual education was an express or implied breach of their contract.

Northwestern University is private research university with over 8,000 undergraduate students and 13,000 graduate students enrolled in the 2019-2020 academic year (Compl. ¶ 17.) Northwestern operates on two primary campuses, one in Evanston, Illinois, and the other in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. (Id. ¶¶ 25, 30.) As part of its marketing strategy, Northwestern advertises its on-campus and in-person experiences and opportunities through its "website, promotional materials, circulars, admission papers, and publications." (Id. ¶¶ 22.)

In these advertisements, Northwestern describes itself as "an innovative, collaborative, and multidimensional community." (Id. ¶ 24.) Northwestern advertises Evanston's campus as "240 acres of natural beauty" with "beaches, shops, coffee houses, restaurants, and theaters just down the street from classrooms, labs and lecture halls." (Id. ¶¶ 26–27.) The Streeterville campus is located in the "global city" of Chicago and "close to the attractions such as the Magnificent Mile, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the John Hancock Center." (Id. ¶ 30.) As part of its recruitment strategy, Northwestern offers an "online guided tour for an interactive 360-view of the Northwestern campus." (Id. ¶ 31.) Northwestern also extolls the value of campus life in its promotional literature. (Id. ¶ 32.) Plaintiffs provide the example of the Sound Arts and Industries Master of Arts program, which states that persons enrolled in the program "have hands-on experience with the latest audio production technology" and "take advantage of Northwestern's state-of-the-art sound facilities." (Id. ¶ 33.)

Northwestern also offers catalogues of classes that list the location and time of meetings. (Id. ¶ 37.) Plaintiffs provide an example of this promise by including the online class description of Astronomy 220, "Introduction to Astrophysics," an entry from which displays information about the class instructors, the teaching method, the registration requirements, the evaluation method, and the class materials, as well as the meeting information, i.e., the Technological Institute in Room L361 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2:00 PM – 2:50 PM. (Id. ¶ 37.) Similar information on location and time and meeting of each class can be found in Northwestern's Course Catalogs. (Id. ¶ 38.)

Plaintiffs allege that these promotional and informational statements created an express or implied contract between themselves and Northwestern such that they would receive in-person instruction and access to physical spaces in exchange for the payment of tuition, fees, and other related costs. (Id. ¶ 35.) Plaintiffs pinpoint the acceptance of a student's admission letter, indicated by the payment of the deposit and the promise to pay tuition and other fees, as the formation of a contract. (Id. ¶ 42.) Plaintiffs allege the admission letter "promises live, in-person education at one of Northwestern's actual campuses, not an ‘online’ education at a ‘virtual’ campus." (Id. ¶ 43.)

Plaintiffs also point to Northwestern's Faculty Handbook, which states: "faculty members are expected to be in residence and available to students and colleagues throughout the period of their appointment" (Id. ¶ 49.) The Faculty Handbook differentiates between an in-person credit hour which is calculated as "one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work" and "online and blended classes" which receive "one unit of credit when at least nine full hours of work per week are expected of the student." (Id. ¶¶ 51, 55.) Plaintiffs allege that "Northwestern did not comply with its own standards" by altering the contractual obligations of its faculty during the pandemic. (Id. ¶ 54.)

Northwestern University operates on a quarter system, which, for a full-time student, encompasses a fall quarter, a winter quarter, and spring quarter. On March 11, 2020, Northwestern announced it had cancelled all classes from March 31, 2020, until April 3, 2020, and moved the last quarter of the year to remote learning online. (Id. ¶ 58.) Plaintiffs allege that this breached their contract with Northwestern. Plaintiffs further allege that on June 15, 2020, Northwestern announced that a "significant portion" of its classes for the Fall 2020 quarter would be online with drastically reduced on-campus experiences. (Id. ¶ 62.)

Plaintiffs allege that Northwestern differentiates between in-person and online instruction and provides the following example. For the 2019-2020 school year, tuition at the Medill School of Journalism was $18,744 for a full-time student, who could take three or four units; $6,121 per unit for a part-time student, or $4,665 per unit for an online student. (Id. ¶ 74.) On a per unit basis, a full-time student would pay between $6,248 (for three credits) or $4,686 (for four credits). On a per credit hour basis, online students pay approximately $21 less per hour than a full-time student taking four credit hours, $1,583 less per hour than a full-time student taking three credit hours, and $1,456 less per hour than a part-time student. Given the disparity of pricing between an in-person and online student, Plaintiffs allege that the online learning is "materially different" compared to the educational experiences previously provided.

Plaintiffs enumerate these differences to include previously recorded lectures, lack of classroom interaction, lack of development of strong study skills, the newly instituted ability to receive Pass-Fail for the spring semester when ordinarily Northwestern would have mandated letter grades, lack of collaborative learning, lack of in-person dialogue, and the inaccessibleness of libraries, computer labs, study rooms, and opportunities for networking. (Id. ¶¶ 75–78.) Plaintiffs allege that Northwestern prices its tuition and fees on the in-person campus experience, and a failure to reimburse or otherwise refund a portion of the tuition is required under their contract with Northwestern. (Id. ¶¶ 80–82.)

In response to the Complaint, Defendant provided the Court with its communications with the specific students who filed this Complaint. There are four students who allege injury on behalf of themselves and others. Plaintiff Polley graduated from Northwestern in June 2020 with a Master of Science in Biotechnology. (Id. ¶ 13.) Plaintiff Quiroz is a current graduate student in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at the Family Institute. (Id. ...