University of Kentucky students may get millions in lawsuit over COVID shutdown
Kentucky's highest court has sided with University of Kentucky students who are seeking refunds over the COVID-19 shutdown of the campus, allowing their suit seeking more than $200 million to proceed.
The Kentucky Supreme Court issued an opinion June 15 on a class action suit filed on behalf of UK students who argued the university should refund their tuition and mandatory fees paid for the 2020 spring semester since in-person classes were canceled and campus facilities were closed.
The issue at hand is whether or not the university had a contract with its students, which the university argued in two lower courts that it did not.
Kentucky law provides government agencies (including public universities) immunity from lawsuits if a contract between the agency and its service recipients does not exist.
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The suit against the university was filed in Franklin Circuit Court in August 2020 and that court agreed with the students that a contract did exist. The university appealed that decision, sending the case to the Court of Appeals - which sided with the students - then up to the high court.
"In exchange for the payments of the tuition and fees, the students had a legitimate expectation to receive what they paid for," the higher court's opinion states.
The suit can now proceed in circuit court. The suit could return funds to all students enrolled that semester who, collectively, paid $160 million in tuition and $18 million in mandatory fees, said attorney Andre Regard, who is representing the students.
In a statement provided to The Courier Journal, a UK spokesperson said the university's actions during the pandemic "not only saved lives," but also "followed the letter of the law."
“The university respectfully disagrees with the result of the Court’s 3-1-3 decision," UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said. "However, the only issue here was whether immunity barred the student’s claim. It is not a decision on the merits.
"We look forward to making our case to the Circuit Court. In the early days of the largest public health crisis in the last century, UK took extraordinary but appropriate steps to protect the lives of students and employees," Blanton said.
Blanton added that the university did issue refunds or credits to students for housing, dining and other services during that semester.
The court's opinion also could have major implications for all of Kentucky's public universities. Regard has filed similar suits against each, but those have been put on hold while the Supreme Court ruled whether or not students entered into contracts with their schools.
UK has about a week to fight Thursday's ruling. Once that window expires, Regard said he will move forward on the other seven suits against the other universities, including Louisville, Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky State, Morehead, Murray State, Northern Kentucky and Western Kentucky.
Collectively, the state's eight public universities were paid $670 million in tuition and $62 million in mandatory fees by students for the spring 2020 semester.
Kentucky Supreme Court opinion on UK suit by Krista Johnson on Scribd
Also read: Louisville's jail has seen suicides, overdose deaths; Oldham County's hasn’t. Here’s why.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated when the Supreme Court's opinion was issued. It was issued June 15, 2023.
Contact reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky high court: UK student lawsuit over COVID shutdown may advance
