Loss of access and use
Educators allegedly lost the ability to view, update, deliver, verify, export, or migrate identifiable course content they personally owned or had an immediate right to possess.
Teacher/Educator Track Filed · D. Utah
Canvas Free-for-Teacher Class Action
On July 12, 2026, Farah L. Vallera filed a separate Teacher/Educator Track class action alleging that Instructure's response to the May 2026 security incidents and permanent shutdown of Canvas Free-for-Teacher deprived educators of access to years of educator-owned course content.
Related but distinct litigation
Looking for the student Canvas case?
The May 8, 2026 case addresses student privacy, exposed Canvas messages, and finals-week disruption. This page addresses the separate Free-for-Teacher course-content track.
What does the complaint allege?
The complaint alleges Canvas Free-for-Teacher was both teaching infrastructure and a repository of substantial labor and intellectual capital. Educators allegedly relied on Instructure-controlled accounts, databases, authentication, and export tools to retrieve complete Canvas-native copies of work developed over months or years.
Vallera alleges she built and stored dozens of courses, received no individualized notice of the May export window, demanded access, and had not received a complete usable export when the complaint was filed.
The complaint states that Free-for-Teacher supported approximately 76,000 teachers and 2.1 million courses worldwide.
Recovery and rebuilding costs
The complaint seeks compensation for professional time and reasonable costs spent locating notices, pursuing support, reconstructing courses, migrating work, and evaluating substitute platforms.
Brief, unsupported export windows
The complaint challenges the alleged lack of effective individualized notice, the short duration of the recovery windows, disabled support during the announced final window, and the absence of a promised fallback export process.
Course content at issue
The complaint describes specific, identifiable digital assets associated with direct Free-for-Teacher accounts—not abstract teaching ideas or generalized copyright interests.
- Course shells and module sequences
- Assessments and quiz banks
- Lesson plans, slide decks, and training modules
- Rubrics, discussion prompts, and feedback libraries
- Uploaded files, links, and HTML layouts
- Canvas-native organization, relationships, and metadata
Timeline alleged in the complaint
- 1
April 29, 2026
Unauthorized activity detected
The complaint alleges Instructure detected unauthorized activity in the Canvas environment and later acknowledged that data fields including usernames, email addresses, course names, enrollment information, and messages were involved.
- 2
May 7, 2026
Second vulnerability and shutdown
The complaint alleges the same threat actor obtained additional access through a second vulnerability. Instructure took Canvas offline and permanently discontinued Canvas Free-for-Teacher.
- 3
May 28–29, 2026
First recovery window
The complaint alleges Instructure opened an approximately 48-hour export window but did not send every direct account holder an individualized notice. Plaintiff Farah L. Vallera alleges she did not receive direct notice and missed the window.
- 4
June 4, 2026
Support response after demand
Vallera alleges that, after she demanded access to her courses, support said no additional retrieval window was then planned, directed her to monitor a blog, and provided no individualized export or recovery date.
- 5
July 10, 2026
Final recovery window announced
According to the complaint, Instructure announced a final window for July 28–29 with support functionality disabled and without a promised individualized fallback if authentication or export fails.
- 6
July 12, 2026
Teacher/Educator Track filed
Vallera filed a separate direct-account-holder track in the District of Utah before the announced final window, alleging completed loss of use, recovery costs, and continuing risk to educator-owned course content.
Who does the proposed class address?
The proposed nationwide class is limited to natural persons in the United States who maintained a Canvas Free-for-Teacher account between April 29, 2026 and the present, had course content or work product saved when FFT was taken offline, did not obtain a complete export during the May 28–29 window, and remained unable to access or export all such content from May 30 through at least June 30, 2026.
The proposed Content-Return Subclass addresses members still unable to obtain a complete usable export after a demand or attempted use of the July window. The proposed Demand-and-Refusal Subclass addresses members who requested access, return, or export after May 29 and did not receive a complete individualized export within a reasonable time.
The complaint excludes institutional and employer claims, student- or parent-only claims, employer-owned content, fully compensated work time, and content already exported without loss or unreimbursed cost. Class definitions can change as litigation proceeds.
Claims pleaded
- Negligence and gross negligence
- Breach of contract and, alternatively, breach of implied-in-fact contract and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing
- Bailment
- Conversion
- Trespass to chattels
- Unjust enrichment and restitution
- Declaratory judgment and injunctive relief
What affected educators should preserve
Preserve records before attempting further recovery or migration. Do not overwrite or discard incomplete export files.
- Preserve the email address associated with your Canvas Free-for-Teacher account.
- Save screenshots of login errors, missing courses, incomplete exports, and Instructure notices.
- Keep copies of support tickets, sales communications, community posts, and responses from Instructure.
- List the course names, approximate creation dates, and types of materials stored in each course.
- Document time spent trying to recover, rebuild, export, or migrate course content and any substitute-platform expenses.
- Keep every export file exactly as downloaded, even if it appears incomplete or unusable.
Relief requested
The complaint seeks damages for completed loss of use and recovery-related costs, restitution and an accounting, together with narrowly tailored preservation, account-level disclosure, individualized notice, complete export or return, and a reasonable fallback if authentication or export fails.
It also asks that Instructure not condition return of educator-owned content on the purchase of a paid Canvas product.
Case documents
Frequently asked questions
What is the Canvas Free-for-Teacher class action?
Farah L. Vallera filed a putative Teacher/Educator Track class action against Instructure on July 12, 2026. The complaint concerns direct Canvas Free-for-Teacher account holders who allegedly lost access to educator-owned course content after the May 2026 security incidents and permanent shutdown of the service.
Is this the same as the existing Canvas student case?
No. The Teacher/Educator Track is pleaded as a separate direct-account-holder track. It focuses on educators' rights in identifiable course content and their loss-of-use, recovery, rebuilding, migration, and related costs. The May 8 student case focuses on student privacy and finals-week academic disruption.
Who may be included in the proposed class?
The complaint proposes a nationwide class of natural persons in the United States who maintained a Canvas Free-for-Teacher account between April 29, 2026 and the present, had course content or work product saved when the service went offline, did not obtain a complete export during the May 28–29 window, and remained unable to access or export all such content from May 30 through at least June 30, 2026. It also proposes Content-Return and Demand-and-Refusal subclasses. The proposed definitions may change as the case proceeds.
What course materials does the complaint address?
The complaint identifies course shells, lesson sequences, assessments, quiz banks, slide decks, rubrics, training modules, HTML layouts, discussion prompts, feedback libraries, uploaded files, metadata, and other account-linked digital assets.
What relief does the complaint seek?
The complaint seeks damages and restitution, plus preservation of Free-for-Teacher content and records, account-level disclosure, effective individualized notice, complete export or return of recoverable content, and a reasonable fallback if authentication or export fails.
What should an affected educator preserve?
Preserve account emails, course lists, screenshots, notices, support tickets, export files, migration records, reconstruction time, substitute-platform expenses, and records showing how the loss of access affected teaching, training, consulting, or curriculum work.
Attorney Advertising
The complaint contains allegations only; no findings have been made. Class definitions and claims may change as the case proceeds. Sending information does not create an attorney-client relationship. Do not send passwords or confidential course content through an ordinary email or web form.