1. WHAT IS THIS LAWSUIT ABOUT?
2. WHY IS THIS A CLASS ACTION?
3. WHY IS THERE A SETTLEMENT?
4. WHO IS IN THE SETTLEMENT CLASS?
5. WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?
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. WHERE CAN I GET ADDITIONAL INFORMATION?
10. WHO REPRESENTS THE CLASS?
The Lawsuit alleges that students who attended Catholic for the Spring 2020 semester are entitled to partial refunds of tuition and fees because Catholic transitioned to remote learning in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Catholic 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. Catholic 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 Amended Complaint, the Settlement Agreement, and other case-related documents are available here.
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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 Plaintiff and Catholic 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 Catholic and its affiliated persons and entities. The Plaintiff 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 Catholic and does not imply that there has been, or would be, any finding that Catholic violated any law if the Lawsuit were to move forward. Catholic 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.
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You are a member of the Settlement Class if you were a Catholic undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in the Spring 2020 Semester who did not withdraw by March 18, 2020 for whom any amount of tuition and/or fees was paid to Catholic from any source other than a scholarship, grant or tuition remission from Catholic, and whose tuition or fees have not been fully refunded by Catholic. Excluded from the Settlement Class are (i) any students who received full scholarships, grants or tuition remission from Catholic and thus did not pay any tuition or fees for the Spring 2020 Semester; (ii) the University and its officers, trustees and their family members; (iii) Class Counsel; (iv) the Judge presiding over the Action; and (v) all persons who properly execute and file a timely opt-out request to be excluded from the Settlement Class.
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The $2,000,000 million Settlement Fund, minus any attorneys’ fees and expenses for Plaintiff’s counsel (addressed below), an award for the Settlement Class Representative of up to $7,500, 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 Catholic’s records. Alternatively, if Settlement Class Members wish to update their mailing address for mailing of a check or prefer to receive their share by Venmo or PayPal, they may click here to provide their updated mailing address or Venmo or PayPal information. With respect to any checks not cashed within 180 days of issuance or electronic payments not successfully received on the first attempt by Settlement Class Members, the claims 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.
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 Catholic 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 at Gustavson v. The Catholic University of America c/o Settlement Administrator P.O. Box 25226 Santa Ana, CA 92799, postmarked by December 23, 2024. 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 Gustavson v. The Catholic University of America. The request should also include your full name, address, telephone number(s), and email address, and identify the case name Gustavson v. The Catholic University of America; Case No. 20-cv- 01496, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
You cannot ask to be excluded by phone or on the Settlement 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.
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 December 23, 2024. 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 Catholic (Tracy A. Roman, Crowell & Moring LLP, 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, DC 20004-2595), postmarked no later than December 23, 2024.
If you hire an attorney in connection with making an objection, that attorney must also file with the Court a notice of appearance by December 23, 2024. 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.
COMPENSATION TO CLASS COUNSEL AND THE NAMED PLAINTIFF
Settlement Class Representative Compensation: The Court may award reasonable compensation to the Class Representative for her service in the case, not to exceed Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500), which shall come from the Settlement Fund. Any such Court-ordered compensation shall be paid within sixty (60) days after the Effective Date. This shall be in addition to any payment that the Settlement Class Representative may receive as a Settlement Class Member.
Class Counsel Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses: The attorneys who brought the lawsuit (listed below) will ask the Court to award them attorneys’ fees not to exceed 33.33% of the Settlement Fund ($666,666.66), 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 Settlement Website no later than December 9, 2024. The Fee and Expense Award shall be payable by the Settlement Administrator from the Settlement Fund within thirty (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 Catholic or any of its affiliated persons and entities about the issues in the Lawsuit. This specifically includes any claim for breach of contract or any tort, common law or statutory claim arising out of or in any way allegedly related to Catholic 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 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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Cash 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 (833) 285-3375, or contact Class Counsel at the information provided below.
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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 Plaintiff. The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing on January 23, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. ET, at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C.
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 ecf.ctd.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, Plaintiff, Class Members, and Catholic 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 Catholic will continue to litigate the Lawsuit. There can be no assurance that, if the Settlement is not approved, Settlement Class Members will recover more than is provided in the Settlement, or indeed, anything at all.
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The Notice is only a summary of the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement which, along with other documents, can be obtained here. If you have any questions, you can also call the Settlement Administrator at (833) 285-3375 or Class Counsel at the numbers or email addresses set forth below. Besides the documents available on the case website, 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 The Catholic University of America about the Lawsuit. They cannot give you advice on your options.
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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.
Paul J. Doolittle, Esq. | Curtis A. Boykin, Esq. |
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