IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY OF ST. LOUIS
STATE OF MISSOURI
DOUGLAS SHARP, et al. )
)
Plaintiffs, )
)
v. ) Case No. 98CC-339
)
) Div. 10
)
THE CURATORS OF THE )
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, )
)
Defendant. )
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE
This Settlement Agreement and Release entered into this _______ day of April, 2005, by and among DOUGLAS A. SHARP, SANDRA K. LYNN and FREDERICK J. ECCHER III, on their individual behalf and on behalf of all members of the class of Plaintiffs (hereinafter referred to collectively as "Plaintiffs" and referred to individually by their last names), and THE CURATORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, a public corporation and body politic (hereinafter referred to as "Defendant").
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS, Plaintiffs initiated this class action lawsuit in January 1998 against Defendant, primarily seeking injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment regarding their allegations that Defendant had been and was violating the provisions of Section 172.360, RSMo 1998, by charging tuition to Missouri youth over the age of sixteen years enrolled in undergraduate classes at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Rolla and the University of Missouri-St. Louis (hereinafter referred to as "the lawsuit"); and
WHEREAS, Defendant denied those allegations and raised numerous legal and factual defenses to said lawsuit; and
WHEREAS, effective August 28, 2001, the Missouri General Assembly amended the provisions of Section 172.360, RSMo 1998 to expressly permit the Defendant to charge tuition to Missouri youth over the age of sixteen years enrolled in undergraduate classes at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Rolla and the University of Missouri-St. Louis; and
WHEREAS, in December 2001, the parties hereto tried the liability phase of this lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the County of St. Louis; and
WHEREAS, on December 6, 2002, the Court issued its decision on the liability phase of this lawsuit and ruled that the legal defenses raised by Defendant, though substantial, were insufficient to permit the Court to rule in Defendant’s favor as a matter of law and ruled further that Defendant had violated the provisions of Section 172.360, RSMo 1998, as it read at the time the class action lawsuit was filed, by charging educational fees, which the Court found to be synonymous with tuition, to Missouri youth over the age of sixteen years enrolled in undergraduate classes at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Rolla and the University of Missouri-St. Louis; and
WHEREAS, the Court’s December 6, 2002 decision did not answer any issues regarding what remedy, if any, was appropriate under the circumstances, le