State Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in COVID tuition suit against IU, Purdue
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Supreme Court has declined, for now, to hear a lawsuit over tuition paid to IU and Purdue during online classes in the spring of 2020.
The state’s highest court announced on Monday that it will not consider an immediate appeal from the universities three lawsuits filed in 2020. Four of the court’s five justices voted against hearing the case.
The suits, filed on behalf of five students, claimed the two universities breached contracts with students by collecting fees for in-person classes, room and board, and other on-campus activities.
IU and Purdue ended in-person classes and ordered students to return home as part of emergency COVID shutdown orders issued by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Local courts and the Indiana Court of Appeals have allowed the potential class-action lawsuits to proceed.
The Indiana General Assembly passed a law in 2021, retroactive to March 2020, that prohibits class-action lawsuits against universities for damages due to COVID-19