No Refunds

From Law360: A California federal magistrate judge said during a hearing on Monday that she intends to dismiss a pair of proposed class actions accusing the Regents of the University of California of withholding campus fee refunds following coronavirus-related campus closures, finding that the students hadn't overcome the UC Regents' qualified immunity defense.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim expressed sympathy for students seeking campus fee reimbursements amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but said they hadn't shown sufficient precedent to back up their argument that the state-run university's regents and its former president Janet Napolitano lack entitlement to qualified immunity under the 11th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Under the students' theory, anyone unhappy with the services provided could file suit against the government, Judge Kim said, and the 11th Amendment, which establishes the principle of state sovereign immunity, "would have no meaning" under such a theory.

"The door you are opening is huge in terms of takings and due process," Judge Kim told counsel for the students.

Judge Kim said she intends to grant the motion to dismiss, but that she hadn't yet made up her mind about whether to grant leave to amend the complaint...

Full story at https://www.law360.com/classaction/articles/1316995/uc-regents-nearing-win-against-students-over-virus-refunds