2nd Class-Action Suit Filed Against NYU For Coronavirus Refunds

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — New York University is facing a second class-action lawsuit has from students who say the school should refund their tuition after shutting down the campus during the coronavirus crisis.

A drama student and a student in NYU's English program filed a $5-million suit against the school Tuesday, arguing that they and all other students should not have to pay the tens of thousands in tuition and fees for the spring semester given that all classes have been moved online.

The suit is at least the second filed against the school and one of many that universities across the country are facing in the aftermath of the campuses closed down during the coronavirus pandemic. Similar suits were filed in New York City against Columbia University, Fordham University and Pace University.

"...NYU students were left paying the same in tuition, room and board and other fees, despite receiving an experience that was far from what they paid for," the latest student's attorney Steve said in a release Wednesday. "We believe NYU owes its students more in light of this tremendous hardship.”

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New York University stopped holding in-person classes on March 10 and eventually asked all its students to leave the Manhattan campus by March 22, according to the suit.

The university has so far given out meal and housing refunds, which they say cost $60 million, and reimbursed some fees, but have said they will not refund tuition because classes are still being held visually, according to the school website and the suit.

This week's suit — filed by Serina Morales and Adriana Guidry — follows a class-action suit against the school in April by a mom whose daughter is a student at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

An NYU spokesperson has called that first lawsuit "unwarranted and ill-advised." They did not immediately respond to comment about the suit filed this week.

Similar to the earlier suits, Morales and Guidry say their experience at the university was significantly changed by not having access to in-person benefits and facilities.

For Guidry, a drama student, the shift to online classes meant she could not design costumes for a show or act for another student's directing project. Morales, an English student, said that half of her coursework in one class was cancelled and another was "substantially watered down."

“Despite sending students home and closing its campus(es), [NYU] continues to charge for tuition and certain fees as if nothing has changed, continuing to reap the financial benefit of millions of dollars from students,” the suit reads.

Both suits follow a petition calling for refunds specifically against Tisch Art School that has been signed by nearly 5,o00 students. The requests also made headlines when Tisch Dean Allyson Green responded to student's emails about tuition with a bizarre video of herself dancing to "Losing My Religion."

The firm representing the NYU students in the latest lawsuit, Hagens Berman, has filed similar lawsuits against at least 13 other universities across the country.

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