Stout conducted a financial and statistical analysis of customer account records for a student travel company sued in a class action matter related to student tours affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plaintiffs alleged that the company collected payments for travel services that were undelivered due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit focused on travelers whose tour enrollments were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in tour postponements, rescheduling, or cancellation. The plaintiffs’ damages claim was for refunds for the undelivered services, citing consumer protection regulations that govern undelivered travel services.

Our Role: The defendants engaged Stout to analyze traveler records of enrollments for travelers on group tours affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, assessing the range of outcomes (postponements, rescheduling, and cancellations) for a representative sample of travelers.

Stout also served as a rebuttal expert critiquing the statistical methodologies used by the opposing expert and identifying flaws such as sampling errors and incomplete coverage of the population.

Outcome: The court denied the motion for class certification, emphasizing the inadequacy of the proposed class definition and the inability to meet Rule 23(b)(3) requirements for certifying a class. The court found that the class definition was overly broad and potentially included consumers who could not assert an injury.

Additionally, the court ruled that the plaintiffs could not satisfy the adequacy requirement for class certification, particularly because challenges regarding causation and damages would vary significantly among class members, citing our expert’s opinion to highlight the complexities and individual variations among potential class members.

Stout’s analysis emphasized the necessity of reliable statistical methods to extrapolate findings to the broader class of affected customers.