Student sues Princeton University for breach of contract during COVID-19 pandemic, demands tuition refund for spring 2020 semester

Students at Princeton University should not be charged for full tuition and fees for the 2020 spring term because classes were moved online and students didn’t get everything they paid for, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey in Trenton on Nov. 19.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit against the trustees of Princeton University is sophomore Reid Zlotky, a resident of Dallas County in Texas who is being represented in New Jersey by Charles Kocher of McOmber McOmber & Luber, a firm based in Marlton.

“This is a class action for breach of contract, breach of implied contract,
unjust enrichment, and conversion on behalf of Plaintiff and all others similarly
situated. Princeton has shut down its campus facilities, discontinued all live in-classroom instruction of all courses, and instead moved all instruction to virtual
online pre-recorded and/or live streaming video instruction,” reads the lawsuit. “While these actions are attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic and executive orders in effect in the State of New Jersey, defendant Princeton has unlawfully and unjustly retained plaintiff and class members’ tuition and fees, despite the fact that defendants are unable to provide, and are not providing, the services and facilities for which they bargained. These fees and tuition costs easily amount to thousands of dollars per student.”

Princeton University has not issued a statement about the lawsuit yet.

The lawsuit argues that while Princeton does not bear responsibility for the campus closures or the inability to provide any classroom instruction, the situation was also out of students’ control and therefore they should not have to pay full tuition for the spring 2020 semester. Tuition for the 2019-20 academic year was $51,870 or $25,935 per semester.

“While Princeton has used the current COVID-19 shutdown circumstances to excuse its duty to perform fully the obligations of its bargain with its students, Princeton continues to demand that all students perform their contractual bargain to pay all tuition and fees for the Spring 2020 term. This is contrary to fundamental tenets of contract law,” reads the lawsuit. “The indefensible breach is saddling wholly innocent students with mounting debt as a result of having to pay tuition and fees for services they are not receiving and facilities and services that are not being provided. In so acting, defendant Princeton is unjustly enriched at the expense of plaintiff and putative class members he seeks to represent.”

According to the lawsuit, Princeton breached its contractual duties by ceasing all in-classroom instruction, shutting down campus facilities, and evicting students in student housing, while continuing to assess and collect tuition and fees.

“Undoubtedly, however, the performance now being provided by Princeton and its campus facilities is different from and of substantially lesser value than what was bargained for at the time of Plaintiff’s and class members’ enrollment,” reads the lawsuit.

Zlotky is bringing the lawsuit on behalf of himself and also wants to represent a class of all other students who were denied in-person instruction to seek relief for the alleged breach of contract.

The suit claims breach of contract and unjust enrichment and conversion. It seeks compensatory damages or restitution, attorney fees, and injunctive relief.

Princeton is just the latest university to face a lawsuit over tuition prices during the pandemic. Students at Columbia University, Cornell University, Fordham University, and the University of San Diego have filed similar suits.