From Law360: A California federal judge this week dismissed a pair of proposed class actions accusing the Regents of the University of California of withholding campus fee refunds in the midst of pandemic-related closures, ruling that the regents are entitled to qualified immunity under the 11th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The students claim in their suits that the UC Regents should reimburse students for services that they are no longer receiving due to the pandemic and should also refund prorated portions of their campus fees. Meanwhile, the state-run university system's regents and its former President Janet Napolitano have argued that they're entitled to qualified immunity because they're state officials.
At a hearing in early October, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim expressed sympathy for the students but said she was leaning toward throwing out the suits. Under the students' theory, anyone unhappy with the services provided could file suit against the government, rendering the 11th Amendment without meaning, the judge said. In a Tuesday order, Judge Kim nixed both suits with prejudice, finding that the 11th Amendment indeed bars the students' claims, at least in federal court. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the regents are "an instrumentality of the state of California" and the Ninth Circuit has repeatedly ruled the same, she said.
"Plaintiffs seek a remedy for asserted violations of their rights in the form of financial compensation," Judge Kim said. "The state of California is therefore the substantial party in interest in these cases and is entitled to invoke its sovereign immunity from suit."...
Full story at https://www.law360.com/california/articles/1327847/uc-regents-beat-student-suits-over-covid-19-fee-refunds
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