Frequently Asked Questions

The class action being settled is captioned Flatscher vs. The Manhattan School of Music, Case No.: 1:20-cv-04496-KPF currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. This case is a class action, meaning that the Settlement Class Representative, Alina Flatscher, brought this action as an individual acting on behalf of a putative class of all people who paid tuition and/or fees for the Spring 2020 semester at the Manhattan School of Music (“MSM”). The Settlement Class Representative alleged claims for breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, conversion, and violations of New York’s General Business Law. On July 20, 2021, The Honorable Katherine Polk Failla, District Court Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissed all claims except the claims for breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment with respect to tuition and fees for the portion of the Spring 2020 semester when MSM transitioned to remote education due to government orders arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. After this decision by the Court, the Parties engaged in written discovery, conducted multiple depositions of witnesses for each Party, exchanged information and came to the proposed Settlement as a result of a mediation and follow up settlement discussions conducted under the oversight and assistance of Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron of the Unites States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who recommended that both Parties accept a “mediator’s recommendation” that “Defendant [MSM] shall pay to the Plaintiff Class the sum of $399,999 in full and final settlement of all claims, inclusive of costs and attorneys’ fees. Any incentive award paid to Plaintiff Alina Flatscher, as well as all costs associated with the class settlement, shall be paid from the foregoing $399,999 settlement amount.”

If you received notice of this lawsuit, it is because MSM’s records indicate that you were enrolled at MSM in Spring 2020 and were assessed and paid tuition or fees that are the subject of this Action. The Court directed that this notice be made available to all Potential Settlement Class Members because each member has a right to notice of the proposed Settlement and the options available to them before the Court decides whether to approve the proposed Settlement.

If you were enrolled at MSM in Spring 2020 and were assessed and paid tuition or fees for that semester, you are in the Settlement Class, provided that you: (1) do not exercise your right to opt out of the proposed Settlement; and (2) were enrolled in MSM and did not withdraw on or before March 15, 2020.

In any lawsuit, there are risks and potential benefits that come with litigating as compared to settling. It is the Settlement Class Representative’s and her lawyers’ (“Class Counsel”) job to identify when a proposed settlement offer is good enough that it justifies settling the case instead of continuing to litigate. In a class action, Class counsel determines when to recommend settling to the class representative. The Class Representative then has a duty to act in the best interests of the class as a whole when deciding whether to accept this recommendation. In this case, it is the belief of the Settlement Class Representative and Class Counsel that this proposed Settlement achieved as a result of both Parties accepting the mediator’s proposal is in the best interest of all Settlement Class Members.

If you are a Potential Settlement Class Member, you have four options with respect to this proposed Settlement:

(1) do nothing and be eligible to participate in the proposed Settlement and receive the payment allocated to you according to the terms of the proposed Settlement by mail to the address the MSM Registrar has on file;

(2) update your mailing address via the Address Update Form page of this website or elect to receive the settlement benefit via Venmo or PayPal via the Elect Digital Payment page of this website;

(3) opt out of the proposed Settlement (see FAQ11); or,

(4) participate in the proposed Settlement, but object to it (see FAQ12).

a. If you do nothing, and the proposed Settlement is approved by the Court, you will receive a payment if you are eligible. That payment will be in the form of a check sent to your address on file with the MSM Registrar.

b. If you would like to alter your address on file or elect to receive the settlement benefit via Venmo or PayPal; you must do so via this website no later than 45 days after the Settlement’s Effective Date, as defined in the proposed Settlement. The Effective Date will be posted to this website when it is known and will be some time after the Final Approval Hearing currently scheduled for September 8, 2023.

c. If you would like to opt out or object to the proposed Settlement, your request must be submitted/postmarked no later than July 31, 2023.

If you would prefer not to participate in the proposed Settlement, then you may want to consider opting out. If you opt out, you will not receive a payment and you will keep any individual claims you may have against MSM relating to the transition to remote learning in Spring 2020.

If you believe the proposed Settlement is unreasonable, unfair, or inadequate and that the Court should reject the proposed Settlement, you may want to consider objecting to the proposed Settlement. The Court will decide if your objection is valid. If the Court agrees, then the proposed Settlement may not be approved. If your objection (or any other objection) is overruled, and the proposed Settlement is approved, then you will still receive a payment under the proposed Settlement and you will be bound by the proposed Settlement. Note that if you do not object to the proposed Settlement, and the proposed Settlement is later approved, you cannot appeal that approval order.

No. If you are a Settlement Class Member, you are automatically entitled to a payment. If you would like to receive your payment at a different address than the one on file with the MSM Registrar, please update your mailing address via the Address Update Form page of this website; or, if you would like to elect to receive the settlement benefit via Venmo or PayPal, please do so via the Elect Digital Payment page of this website.

See FAQ7 above for more information.

If you opt out of the proposed Settlement, you will preserve any claims you may have against MSM related to MSM’s transition to remote instruction in Spring 2020. However, you will not be entitled to receive a payment from this proposed Settlement if the proposed Settlement is approved by the Court.

To opt out of the proposed Settlement, you must send a written request to the Settlement Administrator at MSM Settlement, P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799, which must:

a. include a statement requesting to opt out of the Settlement Class;

b. be personally signed by you;

c. include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and the caption for the Action— The Manhattan School Of Music, Case No.: 1:20-cv-04496-KPF; and,

d. be postmarked no later than July 31, 2023.

A request to opt out of the proposed Settlement that does not meet the above requirements, or that is sent to an address other than that of the Settlement Administrator, will be invalid and the person sending the defective request will remain in the Settlement Class and, if the proposed Settlement is approved by the Court, will receive a payment, and will be bound by the proposed Settlement. A request to opt out of the proposed Settlement must be done on an individual basis. A Potential Settlement Class Member cannot purport to opt others out of the proposed Settlement on a class or representative basis.

Another alternative is that you can object to the proposed Settlement, or any part of it, so long as you do not opt out of the proposed Settlement, as only Settlement Class Members have the right to object to the proposed Settlement, including any attorneys’ fees sought by Class Counsel. To have your objection considered by the Court at the Final Approval Hearing, your objection must:

a. include your name, address, and telephone number, and state that you are a Settlement Class Member;

b. be personally signed by you, the objecting Settlement Class Member;

c. contain a statement that includes all objections, states whether each objection applies only to the objector, to a subset of the Settlement Class, or to the entire Settlement Class, and states the specific reasons for all objections, including any legal arguments and evidentiary support (including copies of any documents relied upon); and,

d. state whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, and whether you are represented by counsel.

Your objection and any accompanying papers must be filed with the Clerk of Court. If you are represented by counsel, the objection must be filed through the Court’s electronic case filing (ECF) system. All objections must also be mailed at the same time to Class Counsel, MSM’s Counsel, and the Settlement Administrator at the addresses below. All objections must be postmarked no later than July 31, 2023.

If you object to the proposed Settlement, the Court will consider your objection at the Final Approval Hearing. If the Court sustains your objection, or the objection of any other Settlement Class Member, the proposed Settlement may not be approved. If you object, but the Court overrules your objection and any other objections and approves the proposed Settlement, then you will be bound by the proposed Settlement, and you may appeal the approval order.

Objecting to the proposed Settlement is telling the Court that you do not believe the proposed Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate for the Settlement Class, and asking the Court to reject it. If you object to the proposed Settlement and the proposed Settlement is ultimately approved, then you are entitled to a payment and will release any claims related to MSM’s transition to remote education in Spring 2020. Opting out of the proposed Settlement, however, is telling the Court that you do not want to be a part of the proposed Settlement if it is approved, you do not want to receive a payment, and you will not release claims you might have against MSM that would otherwise have been released by participating in the proposed Settlement.

No. To object to the proposed Settlement, you must participate in the proposed Settlement. Thus, you must choose between opting out or objecting to the proposed Settlement.

The Parties have agreed to a Settlement Fund of $399,999.00.

As discussed in more detail below, attorneys’ fees and costs, a case contribution award for the Settlement Class Representative, and administrative fees, including the costs paid to a third-party Settlement Administrator, will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. Thereafter, the remaining funds—the Net Settlement Fund—will be divided among all Settlement Class Members entitled to payments as outlined in the proposed Settlement and discussed further below in FAQ20.

Class Counsel will request that the Court approve attorneys’ fees of not more than one-third of the Settlement Fund and will request that Class Counsel be reimbursed for their out-of-pocket litigation costs incurred in litigating the Action. Class Counsel must submit their request to the Court by July 17, 2023, at which point the amount of the requested attorneys’ fees, as well as Class Counsel’s motion, will be published on the Important Documents page of this website. The Court will then decide the amount of the attorneys’ fees and costs based on a number of factors, including the risk associated with bringing the Action, the amount of time spent on the case, the magnitude and complexity of the Action, the quality of the work, and the requested fee in relation to the outcome of the Action.

Class Counsel will request that the Settlement Class Representative Alina Flatscher, be paid an award in the amount of no more than $10,000.00, in recognition for her work in connection with this case, including her retention of Class Counsel, participation in discovery (including document review and production and depositions) and the settlement process. The award must be approved by the Court.

A third-party Settlement Administrator was retained to provide notice and administer the payments to Settlement Class Members. The expenses of the Settlement Administrator are estimated to be $25,000.00 or less.

The balance of the Settlement Fund after paying administrative expenses, attorneys’ fees and costs, and awards to the Settlement Class Representative, will be known as the Net Settlement Fund. The Net Settlement Fund will be divided among Settlement Class Members, as defined in the proposed Settlement, based on the ratio of the total amount of Spring 2020 tuition and fees paid by each Potential Settlement Class Members enrolled in MSM as compared to the total amount of Spring 2020 tuition and fees paid by all Potential Settlement Class Members, reduced by University-funded financial aid and any refunds already distributed to Potential Settlement Class Members during the Spring 2020 semester. Should any students opt out of the proposed Settlement, any payments those students would have received will be aggregated and distributed equally among all Settlement Class Members as part of their payment from the Net Settlement Fund.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on September 8, 2023, to consider whether the proposed Settlement should be approved. If the Court approves the proposed Settlement, then payments will be distributed within 60 days of the date after which the proposed Settlement becomes final, as defined in the Settlement Agreement.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on at 11:00 a.m. on September 8, 2023, at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY 10007. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the proposed Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If objections have been properly submitted, the Court will consider them. The Court may also decide how much to award Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees and litigation costs and the amount of the award to the Settlement Class Representative. The hearing will be public. The hearing may be virtual, in which case the instructions for viewing the hearing and participating will be posted to this website. The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing may change without further notice. Please check this website for updates.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. You may attend if you desire to do so. If you have properly submitted an objection, then you may want to attend.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. If you are objecting and would like to speak at the Final Approval Hearing, you must state in your objection, as described in FAQ12 above, that you intend to appear and want to be heard at the Final Approval Hearing.

The Court has ordered that Gregory M. Egleston and Thomas J. McKenna of Gainey, McKenna & Egleston will serve as Class Counsel and will represent the Settlement Class Members in this matter.

No. Class Counsel will be paid directly from the Settlement Fund, subject to the Court’s approval.

The Court makes this determination. Class Counsel will request the Court to approve the amount of attorneys’ fees at the Final Approval Hearing. Class Counsel will file an application for attorneys’ fees, which shall not exceed one-third of the Settlement Fund, plus their out-of-pocket litigation costs, and will specify the amount being sought. Class Counsel must submit its request to the Court by July 17, 2023, at which point the amount of the requested attorneys’ fees, as well as Class Counsel’s motion, will be published on the Important Documents page of this website. Settlement Class Members who would like to object to the amount of attorneys’ fees sought by Class Counsel may do so by following the instructions described in FAQ12 above.