1. What is this Lawsuit about?
2. Why is this a class action?
3. Why is there a settlement?
4. What are my options?
5. How will Class Counsel and the Named Plaintiff be compensated?
6. What rights am I giving up in this Settlement?
7. When will I receive my cash payment?
8. When will the Court rule on the Settlement?
9. Who represents the Class?
10. Where can I get additional information?
The Lawsuit alleges that students who paid or were obligated to pay tuition, fees, or other costs to Illinois Tech for the Spring 2020 academic term are entitled to partial refunds because Illinois Tech transitioned to remote learning in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Illinois Tech denies each and every allegation of wrongdoing, liability, and damages asserted, and denies that the claims in the Lawsuit would be appropriate for class treatment if the litigation proceeded through trial. 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 Illinois Tech settled this Lawsuit to avoid further litigation.
The Fourth Amended Complaint, the Settlement Agreement, and other case-related documents are available on the Important Documents page.
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A class action is a lawsuit in which one or more persons called a “Class Representative” sues on behalf of people with similar claims. These people together are a “Settlement Class” or “Settlement Class Members.” The Settlement, if finally approved by the Court, resolves all issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.
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The Plaintiffs and Illinois Tech have determined that it is in their best interests to settle the Lawsuit to avoid the expenses and uncertainties associated with continued litigation. This Settlement resolves all claims asserted in the Lawsuit against Illinois Tech and its affiliated persons and entities. The Plaintiffs and the attorneys for the Settlement Class believe the proposed Settlement is in the best interests of the Class. The Settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Illinois Tech and does not imply that there has been, or would be, any finding that Illinois Tech violated any law if the Lawsuit were to move forward. Illinois Tech denies each and every allegation of wrongdoing and liability in the Lawsuit. The Court did not reach a decision on the merits of the Lawsuit. The Court has preliminarily approved the Settlement and ordered that the Notice be provided to explain it. Nevertheless, because the Settlement of a class action determines the rights of all members of the Class, the Court overseeing this Lawsuit must give final approval to the Settlement before it can be effective. The Court has conditionally certified the Settlement Class for settlement purposes only, so that Settlement Class Members receive the Notice and have the opportunity to exclude themselves from the Settlement Class or to voice their support for or opposition to final approval of the Settlement. If the Court does not give final approval to the Settlement, or if it is terminated by the Parties, the Settlement will be void, and the Lawsuit will proceed as if there had been no Settlement and no certification of the Settlement Class.
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. 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. Also excluded from the Class are Illinois Tech’s officers, directors, agents, trustees, parents, children, corporations, trusts, representatives, employees, principals, servants, partners, joint ventures, or entities controlled by Illinois Tech, and their heirs, successors, assigns, or other people or entities related to or affiliated with Illinois Tech and/or Illinois Tech’s officers and/or directors, the judges assigned to this action, and any member of a judge’s immediate family.
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(1) Receive Payment By Check or Elect to Have Your Payment Made Electronically.
The $1,000,000.00 Settlement Fund, minus any attorneys’ fees and expenses for Plaintiffs’ Counsel (addressed below, see FAQ 9, an award for the Settlement Class Representatives of up to $5,000.00 each, and the costs of administering the Settlement, will be divided equally among all Settlement Class Members. You will not need to take any action to receive your share of the Settlement. Settlement Class Members will automatically receive their shares by check mailed to the Settlement Class Member’s last known mailing address as reflected in Illinois Tech 's records. Alternatively, if you prefer to receive your share by Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal, please click here. With respect to any checks not cashed within 120 days of issuance or electronic payments not successfully received on the first attempt by Settlement Class Members, the Settlement Administrator may attempt to re-mail the checks or reissue the electronic payments to those who did cash their checks and/or those who successfully received their electronic payments, unless the expense of doing so is more than the amount of funds for checks not cashed and electronic payments not successfully received.
(2) Exclude Yourself (“Opt out” of the Settlement).
You may exclude yourself from the Settlement. If you do so, you will not receive a share of the Settlement Fund. You will not release any claims you may have against Illinois Tech and the Released Parties (as that term is defined in the Settlement Agreement, available for review here, and you will be free to pursue whatever legal rights you may have by pursuing your own lawsuit against the Released Parties at your own risk and expense. To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must send a written request for exclusion to the Settlement Administrator postmarked by May 28, 2026. Your request to be excluded from the Settlement must be personally signed by you and contain a statement that indicates your desire to be excluded from the Settlement Class in Hernandez, et al. v. Illinois Institute of Technology. The request should also include your full name, address, telephone number(s), and email address, and identify the case name Hernandez, et al. v. Illinois Institute of Technology; 1:20-cv-03010, in The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
You cannot ask to be excluded by phone or on this website. You may opt out of the Settlement Class only for yourself; you may not opt others out of the Settlement Class on a class or representative basis.
(3) Object to the Settlement.
If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can object to the Settlement if you do not like any part of it. You can give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it. The Court will consider your views. You cannot ask the Court for a different Settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the Settlement. If the Court does not approve the Settlement, no payments will be sent out, and the Lawsuit will continue.
To object, you must file a written objection with the Court, which includes the following information:
If you do not timely and validly make your objection, you will be deemed to have waived all objections and will not be entitled to speak at the Final Approval Hearing.
If you file and serve a written objection and statement of intent to appear, you may appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through your personal counsel hired at your own expense, to object to the fairness, reasonableness, or adequacy of the Settlement.
If you wish to object, you must file your objection with the Court (using the Court’s electronic filing system or in any manner in which the Court accepts filings) no later than May 28, 2026. You must also send a copy of your objection to by mail, hand, or overnight delivery service (or by operation of the Court’s CM/ECF system to Class Counsel (specifically Paul J. Doolittle of Poulin Willey Anastopoulo LLC 32 Ann Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403) and the attorneys representing Illinois Tech (specifically William T. “Toby” Eveland, Manley Burke, LPA, 500 W. Madison, Suite 1000, Chicago, IL 60661), postmarked no later than May 28, 2026.
If you hire an attorney in connection with making an objection, that attorney must also file with the Court a notice of appearance by May 28, 2026. If you do hire your own attorney, you will be solely responsible for payment of any fees and expenses the attorney incurs on your behalf. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you cannot file an objection. If you object and the Settlement is approved, you will still be entitled to receive benefits under the Settlement and will be bound by the terms of the Settlement.
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Settlement Class Representative Compensation. The Court may award reasonable compensation to the Class Representatives for their service in the case, not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) each individual, which shall come from the Settlement Fund. Any such Court-ordered compensation shall be paid within sixty (60) days after the Effective Date.
Class Counsel Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses. The attorneys who brought the Lawsuit (listed below, see FAQ 9) will ask the Court to award them attorneys’ fees not to exceed 33.33% of the Settlement Fund ($333,300.00), for the time and effort expended in investigating the facts, conducting the litigation, and negotiating the Settlement, as well as reimbursement of litigation expenses incurred through the date of the application for attorneys’ fees and expenses, plus a reasonable estimate of additional expenses likely to be incurred through the Effective Date (the “Fee and Expense Award”). Class Counsel’s motion for a Fee and Expense Award and Class Representative Award will be filed with the Court and made available on the Important Documents page no later than June 12, 2026. The Fee and Expense Award shall be payable by the Settlement Administrator from the Settlement Fund within ten (30) business days after entry of the Court’s Final Judgment.
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Unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you cannot sue or be part of any other lawsuit against Illinois Tech or any of its affiliated persons and entities about the issues in the Lawsuit. This specifically includes any claim for breach of contract, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, or any tort, common law or statutory claim whatsoever arising out of or in any way allegedly related to Illinois Tech tuition and/or fees paid or incurred by or on behalf of any Settlement Class Member in connection with the Spring 2020 Semester. Unless you exclude yourself, all of the decisions and judgments by the Court will bind you.
The Settlement Agreement is available here. The Settlement Agreement provides more detail regarding the Releases and describes the Released Claims with specific descriptions in necessary, accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. If you have any questions, you can talk for free to the attorneys identified below (see FAQ 9) who have been appointed by the Court to represent the Settlement Class, or you are welcome to talk to any other lawyer of your choosing at your own expense.
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Payments will be distributed after the Court grants Final Approval to the Settlement. The Parties cannot accurately predict when (or whether) the Court will grant Final Approval to the Settlement, or whether there may be appeals from that order that take additional time to resolve, so please be patient. Settlement Class Members will receive their payment within sixty (60) days after the Effective Date.
Updated information about the case will be made available on this website, or you can call the Settlement Administrator at (877) 272-1163, or contact Class Counsel at the information provided below (see FAQ 9).
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The Court has already granted Preliminary Approval of the Settlement. A final hearing on the Settlement, called a final approval or fairness hearing, will be held to determine the fairness of the Settlement. At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will also consider whether to make final the certification of the Settlement Class for settlement purposes, hear any proper objections and arguments to the Settlement, as well as any requests for an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses and a Class Representative Awards for the Plaintiffs. The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing on June 24, 2026, at 9:30 a.m., CT, at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Court House 219 South Dearborn Street Courtroom 1941, Chicago, IL 60604.
The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing are subject to change by Court Order, and the hearing may be conducted remotely. Any changes, including instructions for how Settlement Class Members may attend the hearing if it is conducted virtually or by telephonic means, will be posted on this website and on the Court’s docket on PACER at https://pacer.uscourts.gov.
If the Settlement is given Final Approval, the Court will not make any determination as to the merits of the claims or defenses at issue. Instead, the Settlement’s terms will take effect and the Lawsuit will be dismissed on the merits with prejudice. Both sides have agreed to the Settlement to achieve an early and certain resolution to the Lawsuit, so it provides specific and valuable benefits to the members of the Settlement Class.
If the Court does not grant Final Approval of the Settlement, or if Final Approval is reversed on appeal, or if the Settlement does not become final for some other reason, Plaintiffs, Illinois Tech, and Class Members will be in the same position as they were before the execution of the Settlement, and the Settlement will have no legal effect, no class will remain certified (conditionally or otherwise), and Plaintiff and Illinois Tech will continue to litigate the Lawsuit. There can be no assurance that, if the Settlement is not approved, the Settlement Class will recover more than is provided in the Settlement, or indeed, anything at all.
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The Court has approved these attorneys to represent the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
Class Counsel | |
Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo, LLC | Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP |
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This website and the Notice are only a summary of the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement which, along with other documents, can be obtained on the Important Documents page. If you have any questions, you can also call the Settlement Administrator at (877) 272-1163 or Class Counsel at the numbers or email addresses set forth above (see FAQ 9). Besides the documents available on the Important Documents page, all pleadings and documents filed in court may be reviewed or copied in the Office of the Clerk.
Please do not contact the Judge or the Clerk of the Court or Illinois Institute of Technology about the Lawsuit. They cannot give you advice on your options.
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