Litigation of counsel Martin Flumenbaum and partner Brad Karp’s latest Second Circuit Review column, “Implied Contracts and Federal-State Court Splits: Becerra-Paez v. Syracuse University,” appeared in the September 4 issue of the New York Law Journal. The authors discuss a recent decision in which the Second Circuit certified to the New York Court of Appeals a question concerning whether, under New York contract law, students seeking tuition refunds for COVID-19-related remote learning must allege an implied promise of generally in-person education or a specific promise of exclusively in-person instruction. The unanimous opinion addresses a split between federal and New York state courts.
The case arose from a Syracuse University student’s claim that the university breached an implied contract when it transitioned to online-only instruction in March 2020 without refunding tuition. The Northern District of New York dismissed the complaint, and on appeal the Second Circuit found a conflict between its own precedent and subsequent New York Appellate Division decisions on the pleading standard for such claims. The eventual Court of Appeals decision is expected to have significant implications for COVID-19 tuition-refund litigation and the broader law governing implied contracts in New York.
Litigation associate Michael Pisem assisted in the preparation of this column.
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