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Hernandez et al. v. Illinois Institute of Technology, Proposed Class Action Settlement

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit between Defendant Illinois Institute of Technology (“Defendant” or “Illinois Tech”) and Plaintiffs Omar Hernandez and Hannah Golden, who allege that they and the Settlement Class Members are entitled to partial refunds of tuition and fees for the Spring 2020 academic term because Illinois Tech transitioned to remote learning in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case is Hernandez, et al. v. Illinois Institute of Technology, Case No. 1:20-cv-03010, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (the “Lawsuit”). The proposed Settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Illinois Tech, and Illinois Tech denies all allegations of wrongdoing and disclaims all liability with regard to all claims in the Lawsuit. Illinois Tech also maintains that it transitioned to remote instruction to protect the health of its students, faculty, and staff, and in compliance with mandatory government shutdown orders, and settled this Lawsuit to avoid further litigation. The Court has granted preliminary approval of the Settlement. The Court has not decided who is right.

If you received notice, you are a member of the Settlement Class if you were an Illinois Tech student who paid or were obligated to pay tuition, fees, or other costs to Illinois Tech for the Spring 2020 academic term. But, you are not a Settlement Class Member if you are a student who enrolled in Illinois Tech’s education programs that, prior to March 23, 2020, were offered exclusively online.

Under the Settlement Agreement, Illinois Tech will pay $1,000,000.00. Some of that will go to Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees and expenses, a class representative award, and the costs of administering the Settlement. What remains of the $1,000,000.00 will be divided equally among the approximately 6,200 Settlement Class Members. Settlement Class Members do not need take any action to receive their shares of the payment. Settlement Class Members will automatically receive their shares by check mailed to the Settlement Class Member’s last known mailing address.

Alternatively, if they prefer to receive their share by Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal or wish to update their mailing address for mailing of a check, they may complete an election form online here to provide their updated mailing address, Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal information.

These rights and options—and the deadlines to exercise them—are explained in the Notice and FAQs. Please review the Notice carefully.

The Court presiding over the Lawsuit still has to decide whether to approve the Settlement. The payment made available by this Settlement will be provided only if the Court approves the Settlement and after any issues with the Settlement are resolved. Please be patient.