Three New York University student athletes are suing the school after they were suspended for not wearing masks at an off-campus party before the start of the school year.
Elnaz “Elle” Pourasgari, Marc Santonocito and Ashley Storino claimed they were suspended from the university after photos surfaced of them maskless at an off-campus party, according to the New York Post. The university reportedly received the photos through an anonymous tip, the outlet reported.
NYU students say they were unfairly suspended for going maskless at party https://t.co/U9URiqrPkA pic.twitter.com/22kRIQXDhF
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) October 15, 2020
The students claimed they were following CDC guidelines by allowing people to have a “bubble” of acquaintances when the photos were taken on Aug. 14.
The students also reportedly tested negative before the school year began. (RELATED: NYU Suspends Over 20 Students For Defying COVID-19 Policies)
“NYU believes it has the right to control its students’ actions anywhere in the universe during the students’ break,” lawyer Karen Edler said during oral arguments in court, according to the NYPost.
“They don’t have any evidence … that the petitioners endangered anyone,” Edler reportedly added.
Edler claimed none of the students contracted coronavirus after the party.
“The failure to have a mask on in a picture in your home doesn’t endanger anybody,” Edler said. “None of these students were sick. None of these students became sick.”
NYU maintained that the students could have been “super-spreaders” after attending the event.
“The students’ failure to wear masks and failure to maintain social distancing put the university community, the students themselves and the students they were with … at risk for COVID-19,” NYU lawyer Jessica Moller claimed.