Vanderbilt University is currently involved in several significant lawsuits and has recently resolved others. The active matters include a retaliation suit by three former library employees, a false arrest suit by a former undergraduate, and an antitrust case brought by football player Diego Pavia against the NCAA. On the resolved side, Vanderbilt paid $55 million in 2024 to settle a financial aid price-fixing class action, and the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in the university medical center’s favor in a healthcare liability appeal in January 2025. A separate federal lawsuit against Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, a company with no affiliation to the university, was dismissed in February 2025.
The $55 Million Financial Aid Settlement
Vanderbilt’s largest recent legal payout came in the class action Henry v. Brown University, filed in January 2022 in the Northern District of Illinois before Judge Matthew F. Kennelly.1CourtListener. Henry v. Brown University The suit accused 17 elite private universities of using a shared “Consensus Methodology” to calculate financial need in a way that suppressed aid awards over roughly two decades.2WTTW News. Northwestern, Dartmouth, Rice and Vanderbilt Settle Antitrust Financial Aid Lawsuit
The schools operated under what’s known as the “568 Presidents Group,” named after a section of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 that granted a limited antitrust exemption for collaboration on aid methodology, conditioned on strictly need-blind admissions.3Columbia Spectator. Court Approves Columbia Settlement for $24 Million in Class Action Financial Aid Lawsuit Plaintiffs alleged the schools favored wealthier applicants and children of donors, forfeiting that exemption. Damages were estimated at $685 million, potentially trebled to more than $2 billion under federal antitrust law.4Berger Montague. Plaintiffs in Elite University Price Fixing Case Settle With Caltech and Johns Hopkins
Vanderbilt’s $55 million payment was the largest individual settlement among the schools that resolved their claims.5WSMV. Vanderbilt University Reaches $55 Million Settlement in Financial Aid Lawsuit By January 2025, 12 of the 17 defendants had settled for a combined total approaching $320 million.4Berger Montague. Plaintiffs in Elite University Price Fixing Case Settle With Caltech and Johns Hopkins
Who Can File a Claim
Eligible class members are students who enrolled full-time at any of the 17 defendant universities, received some need-based aid, and were not fully covered for tuition, fees, room, or board. For most schools, the class period runs from Fall 2003 through February 2024. Claims must be submitted by December 27, 2025. There is no fixed per-person amount; payouts are calculated pro rata based on years of attendance and inflation-adjusted net price.6Financial Aid Antitrust Settlement. Caltech and Johns Hopkins Settlement FAQs
Retaliation Suit by Three Former Library Employees
On April 10, 2026, three former Vanderbilt employees filed Berry et al v. Vanderbilt University (Case No. 3:26-cv-00443) in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, alleging they were fired for reporting sexual harassment.7HC Magazine. Employees Sue Vanderbilt, Allege University Axed Them for Reporting Harassment
Plaintiffs Regina Berry, Miriam Wnuk, and Rachel Adams worked in the Logistics and Access Department at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries under director Scott Martin. The complaint says Berry reported Martin to human resources and the university’s Equal Employment and Access Office in August 2023 over alleged comments about female employees’ bodies, exclusion of women from meetings, and refusal to hire qualified female candidates. Vanderbilt’s Title IX Office substantiated the complaints, and Martin was terminated on or about March 7, 2025.8Nashville Banner. Vanderbilt Lawsuit Sexual Harassment
According to the complaint, the three women then faced escalating retaliation: a department reorganization that put less experienced supervisors over them, formal warnings that blocked merit increases and promotions, and, on June 9, 2025, administrative leave under a “reduction in force” shortly after they met with the Title IX Office to report the retaliation. Their terminations took effect August 8, 2025. The suit also alleges the university disabled their network accounts, preventing access to internal job postings despite a promise of “priority eligibility.”7HC Magazine. Employees Sue Vanderbilt, Allege University Axed Them for Reporting Harassment
Vanderbilt filed its answer on June 18, 2026. An initial case management conference is set for August 19, 2026, before Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes. The plaintiffs are seeking damages and a jury trial.9PACER Monitor. Berry et al v. Vanderbilt University
Former Student’s False Arrest Suit
Douglas Norman, a former Vanderbilt undergraduate, sued the university and several campus safety officials for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and entrapment. Norman v. Vanderbilt University, et al. (Case No. 3:25-cv-00296) is pending in the Middle District of Tennessee before Chief Judge William L. Campbell Jr.10Vanderbilt Hustler. Former Student Files Lawsuit Against University Alleging False Arrest
Norman was placed on a leave of absence in early 2023 and evicted from student housing in August 2023, with instructions not to return to campus without permission. He attended athletic events in August and October 2023 without incident. On November 14, 2023, he was arrested at a basketball game and charged with criminal trespass. A second arrest followed on April 16, 2024, after Norman says a campus safety dispatcher approved his visit to campus to discuss a contested affidavit. He was arrested by Lieutenant Alan Reed inside the Student Affairs office. The trespass charge from the second arrest was dropped on September 4, 2024.10Vanderbilt Hustler. Former Student Files Lawsuit Against University Alleging False Arrest
The defendants moved to dismiss. On March 31, 2026, Judge Campbell denied the motion, allowing the suit to proceed. Norman seeks monetary damages and litigation costs.11Leagle. Norman v. Vanderbilt University
Graduate Worker Unionization Fight
In October 2024, Vanderbilt Graduate Workers United, affiliated with the UAW, petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to represent about 2,200 graduate student employees across research, teaching, and administrative roles.12NLRB. Case 10-RC-351808
Vanderbilt opposed the petition, arguing that graduate students are not “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act and that unionization conflicts with its educational mission. The university retained Littler Mendelson, launched a “Union Facts” website, and filed its own lawsuit against the NLRB.13Nashville Scene. Vanderbilt Grad Student Union Vote The dispute produced multiple U.S. District Court orders between January and April 2026. The NLRB case is now listed as closed, with a final court order dated April 7, 2026, though the substance of that order is not publicly detailed in available records.12NLRB. Case 10-RC-351808
Before the formal election petition was filed, the organizing effort had already prompted Vanderbilt to raise the annual pay floor for graduate students from $28,000 to $34,000.13Nashville Scene. Vanderbilt Grad Student Union Vote
Diego Pavia’s NCAA Eligibility Case
Vanderbilt football player Diego Pavia is the lead plaintiff in Pavia v. NCAA (Case No. 3:24-cv-01336), a federal antitrust suit filed in the Middle District of Tennessee. Pavia and 26 other former junior college football players argue that the NCAA’s “JUCO Rule,” which counts junior college seasons toward the four-season Division I limit, is an unlawful group boycott of older, experienced players.14Sportico. Diego Pavia Antitrust Lawsuit NCAA
In late 2024, Chief Judge William L. Campbell Jr. granted Pavia a preliminary injunction letting him play the 2025 season. The NCAA appealed but then issued a one-time waiver covering all players in Pavia’s situation, mooting the appeal. On October 1, 2025, the Sixth Circuit dismissed the appeal and declined to vacate the injunction, finding the NCAA had caused the mootness itself.15U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Diego Pavia v. National Collegiate Athletic Association On December 26, 2025, Pavia’s group filed a new motion seeking a preliminary injunction to compete in 2026 and 2027. The underlying merits case remains pending, with proposed trial dates ranging from June 2026 to February 2027.14Sportico. Diego Pavia Antitrust Lawsuit NCAA
Richards v. Vanderbilt University Medical Center
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled against a patient who sued Vanderbilt University Medical Center for negligence. Clayton D. Richards, treated at VUMC in August 2013, filed a healthcare liability suit in December 2014. He voluntarily dismissed it, giving him one year under Tennessee’s saving statute to refile. He missed that window and argued the Health Care Liability Act’s separate 120-day extension made his late filing timely.16Tennessee Courts. Tennessee Supreme Court Clarifies Interplay Between Health Care Liability Act and Saving Statute
The trial court and Court of Appeals dismissed the case, and on January 22, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court unanimously agreed. Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins wrote that because the HCLA refers only to statutes of limitations and makes no mention of the saving statute, its 120-day extension does not apply to the refiling deadline.17Tennessee Courts. Clayton D. Richards v. Vanderbilt University Medical Center
A Note on Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance
Searches for Vanderbilt lawsuits often turn up a 2025 case against Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. That company is not affiliated with Vanderbilt University. It is a manufactured-home lender owned by Clayton Homes, which is in turn owned by Berkshire Hathaway.18NPR. CFPB Lawsuit Vanderbilt Berkshire Hathaway
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Vanderbilt Mortgage on January 6, 2025, in the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z by pushing borrowers into unaffordable loans and charging additional fees when those loans went delinquent.19CFPB. Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. Vanderbilt Mortgage called the claims “unfounded and untrue” and the lawsuit “politically motivated, regulatory overreach,” saying internal reviews found fewer than one percent of loans should not have been originated.20Clayton Homes. Response to CFPB Lawsuit The CFPB voluntarily dismissed the suit with prejudice on February 27, 2025.21HousingWire. CFPB Vanderbilt Mortgage TILA Lawsuit Dismissal