CHICAGO - McKendree University students Kelsey DeLisle and Kaitlin Pennington have asked U.S. Seventh Circuit appellate judges to review an order finding that the school didn’t promise to teach them in person.
On Oct. 26, they filed an appeal notice with U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle of Benton, who dismissed their class action complaint in September.
Yandle found McKendree’s catalogs and website didn’t contain an explicit promise of services in person.
DeLisle and Pennington sued McKendree in September 2020, as representatives of all students who paid in whole or in part for the spring 2020 semester.
Richard Cornfeld of St. Louis filed their complaint in St. Clair County circuit court.
McKendree removed it to district court, claiming the amount in controversy exceeded the $5 million limit on class actions in state courts.
McKendree counsel Kyle Seelbach of St. Louis moved to dismiss in December, claiming Illinois bars educational malpractice claims.
“Plaintiffs do not allege that McKendree’s actions were motivated by anything other than health and safety concerns,” he wrote.
Yandle didn’t apply the educational malpractice doctrine, ruling instead that she couldn’t find a breach of contract.
She found website descriptions don’t guarantee the same exact experience.
She found McKendree’s provision of services in person prior to the virus didn’t imply a contractual entitlement to the same location and manner.