Student class-action lawsuits on the line as court takes Ball State COVID case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Lawyers for a Ball State University student told the state’s highest court Tuesday a pandemic-era law does not trump the court’s rules for class-action lawsuits.
Students from five area high schools and the University of Indianapolis filled an auditorium as the Indiana Supreme Court’s five justices questioned lawyers over where their authority ends and the General Assembly’s begins. The justices held the hearing on the University of Indianapolis campus as part of a periodic series of arguments on the road, meant to expose more Hoosiers to their highest court’s processes.
Ball State University cancelled in-person classes in the spring of 2020 when Gov. Eric Holcomb issued a stay-home order at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, the legislature passed a law to block class-action lawsuits for damages arising from COVID-19 in a contract or implied contract. Ball State student Keller Mellowitz is suing the university because it refused to give him a partial tuition refund for the spring 2020 semester due to the cancellation of in-person classes. Mellowitz’s lawyers told the court the law the legislature passed is procedural in nature. As such, the law does not override the Indiana Supreme Court’s own rule that sets out who can file a class-action claim. They said Ball State violated its contractual agreement with students to provide quality, in-person education in exchange for their tuition dollars.
Eric Pavlack, one of Mellowitz’s lawyers, told reporters afterward Mellowitz is not the only student who wants some sort of refund. He said although Ball State students could, in theory, file lawsuits individually or as multiple parties, it’s not practical for their situation.
“When it comes to civil litigation, it’s a very expensive process, especially when you have capable lawyers like this on the other side and large interests and big institutions,” he said. “And for the amount of money involved for any given student, the amount of money probably isn’t enough to justify bringing an individual case.”
Lawyers for Ball State and the state of Indiana said the legislature clearly intended to limit COVID-related lawsuits as a matter of public policy. They pointed out lawmakers approved multiple pieces of legislation that session dealing with such issues.
“The legislature was not taking valid claims away from anybody,” Solicitor General Tom Fisher said. “It was saying we want these claims to be heard on their merits and decided on their merits without undue pressures on potential defendants among colleges and universities to settle just because of the number of plaintiffs.”
Chief Justice Loretta Rush said the court will issue a ruling at a later time.