Students’ COVID-Based Breach Claims Rejected in Rhode Island

Plaintiffs in Burt v. Board of Trustees of the University of Rhode Island are students who allege that four Rhode Island universities breached contracts and/or were unjustly enriched when they providing only remote learning rather than the in-person experience the students bargained for.  These changes in curriculum delivery followed of course from the advent of the global COVID-19 pandemic.  

The U.S. District Court for Rhode Island consolidated five different actions seeking recovery of fees and tuition from the four universities.   The court granted defendants motion to dismiss as to the tuition claims, while allowing the fees claims to proceed. 

The plaintiffs alleged that the universities assumed contractual obligations through their catalogues and brochures.  The court found that none of the materials cited by plaintiffs created contractual obligations.  According to the court the materials were “more akin to puffery, rather than enforceable promises.”  Moreover, “all four universities explicitly reserved the right to unilaterally alter the administration of their academic offerings.”  In addition, the court noted, that the pandemic created extraordinary circumstances that left the universities will little alternative to the curricular modifications they made. 

Plaintiffs’ unjust enrichment claims relating to tuition were likewise dismissed, as were claims for conversion and for money had and received. 

Plaintiffs’ fees claims faired more favorably.  In this context, plaintiffs could point to specific representations that the universities made regarding programs and activities that were to be provided to students in exchange for their fee payments.  The courts respect for academic discretion did not extend so far as to allow the defendants to flout contractual obligations.