A student who has since graduated filed suit in 2020 looking for reimbursement after pandemic measures shuttered many in-person university activities
By Alex Sakariassen MONTANA FREE PRESS
The Montana Supreme Court closed the book last week on a long-running court case rooted in Montana State University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling that the university officials’ decision to halt in-person instruction and services in the spring of 2020 did not entitle a former student to refunded tuition and fees.
To recap: In fall 2020, now-graduate Anthony Cordero filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Butte alleging MSU breached a contract with him when it transitioned to remote classes in an effort to curtail the early spread of COVID-19. Within a few months, the case was refiled in Lewis and Clark County District Court, where Cordero demanded a partial refund of the tuition and fees he’d paid for the spring 2020 semester. Cordero argued the closure of campus facilities and cancellation of activities deprived him of opportunities guaranteed in student documents and marketing materials.
MSU countered the abrupt switch to remote instruction was intended to protect student health and safety and rebuffed Cordero’s assertion that his payments were “protected property.” Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Mike McMahon eventually ruled in MSU’s favor in August 2023, noting that the Bozeman flagship had continued to offer various services to students throughout Montana’s first pandemic spring. Cordero appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court.
In its final opinion on that appeal, issued Aug. 6, a five-member panel of justices upheld McMahon’s decision, writing that Cordero was able to complete his spring 2020 courses and graduate despite the disruption. The panel further cited language from the campus’ course catalog it said “warns students that MSU reserves the right to change regulations, courses, and fees at any time.”
“Presumably, this encompasses the right to adapt its regulations and policies to protect its students, faculty, and staff in the event of an emergency, including a global pandemic,” the opinion continued. “Nowhere within the catalog does MSU expressly promise a refund or credit in the event it had to change its regulations to temporarily move online to protect students, faculty, and staff.”
MTFP reached out to Cordero’s attorney, Adrian Miller with Billings-based Sullivan Miller Law, for comment this week. Miller responded with the following statement on Cordero’s behalf: “MSU chose not to issue prorated refunds to students for services it did not provide and facilities that were unavailable during its Covid campus closure. While we respect the Supreme Court’s legal opinion upholding MSU’s decision, a university should not profit off a global pandemic. MSU’s students deserve better.”
MSU greeted the news as further affirmation of their arguments in the case, with spokesperson Tracy Ellig saying the supreme court’s decision “speaks clearly.”
“This ruling vindicates the university against these unfounded claims,” Ellig said in an email statement Monday, “and reinforces that the university did everything in its power to provide education to students fairly and effectively during the pandemic.”
