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On April 14,
2010, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan based in Detroit, seeking recoveries on behalf
of thousands of adults in 14 states harmed by the sudden
closure of ComputerTraining.edu schools in late December
2009. Plaintiffs’ counsel in the lawsuit are Thomas H.
Howlett and Dean M. Googasian of The Googasian Firm,
P.C. |
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On January 27th, 2011, a
federal judge certified this case as a class action. A
copy of the Court's ruling can be found
here. Class members should by now have
received a court-ordered notice regarding the class
action. A copy of the class notice can be found
here.
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On November
22, 2011, a federal judge entered a judgment on behalf
of all class members - more than 7,500 persons - against
ComputerTraining.
The lawsuit is being brought on behalf of adults who
were enrolled in programs at ComputerTraining.edu
schools in late December 2009 when the owners and
operators of the schools abruptly locked the doors
without warning and without providing any refunds, as
well as on behalf of those who are graduates and who
were denied continuing, “lifetime” placement services
from the now-closed schools.
The lawsuit also includes individuals who co-signed or
otherwise became liable for a loan to pay the
Computer Training tuition for these students.
On August 8,
2010, a Second Amended Complaint was filed, naming
Sallie Mae, Inc. as an additional defendant. The
lawsuit alleges that the student loan lender is subject
to the same claims and defenses that each of its
borrowers could assert against Computer Training.
A copy of the complaint can be found
here.
On February 18, 2011, a federal district judge granted
Sallie Mae’s motion to dismiss, ruling that students
must arbitrate their claims against Sallie Mae.
Plaintiffs appealed the federal district judge’s ruling.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
upheld the judge’s ruling that arbitration was required.
A copy of the appeals court’s ruling can be found
here. Plaintiffs sought an additional appeal of this
ruling, but it was denied.

The closure
of the ComputerTraining.edu schools affected adults who
enrolled in and paid for programs in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois,
Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and
Wisconsin.
The class
action lawsuit alleges that the owners and operators of
the ComputerTraining.edu schools told students that by
paying tuition costing as much as $28,000 or more for a
six-month program, they would be able to participate in
training through which they could become computer
technicians with four Microsoft certifications and
thereafter receive continuing placement services from
the schools in the field of information technology.
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Instead, the
closure of the schools has left students who paid at
least $13,500 in advance without an ability to complete
the training programs or receive the continuing
placement services at the CompterTraining.edu schools as
promised. The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants have
failed to pay back a penny of the money taken from
students.
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The lawsuit
filed in federal court further alleges that the owners
and operators of the ComputerTraining.edu schools were
aware that their business was in dire financial trouble
in 2009, but they concealed these financial difficulties
and the risk that they could not provide the program and
placement services from the students who were enrolling
in their programs. Instead, according to the lawsuit,
Defendants allegedly began an admissions push that
included hiring numerous additional salsepeople,
increasing the compensation and commissions to such
persons, slashing tuition at many schools, and/or
enrolling as many students as possible. That lawsuit
alleges that during the admissions push in late 2009,
Defendants knew or should have known that, due to ComputerTraining’s financial trouble, the students whom
they were enrolling might not receive either the
training program or the placement services for which
some were paying as much as $28,000.
According to the lawsuit, the Defendants also told
students that they would receive full refunds if the
school closed before they completed the program, then
promptly locked the doors without giving any refunds.
The Googasian
Firm, P.C. , which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the
former ComputerTraining.edu students, is a law firm that
aims to help those who are victims of unfair, deceptive
and abusive practices committed by for-profit schools
and others.
For-profit
schools selling education to adults are big business in
the United States. With direct mail campaigns and
through newspaper, television and Internet ads, these
schools, institutes and so-called "colleges" frequently
attempt to lure adults into expensive programs of study
with promises of future employment in high-paying jobs
or easy-to-obtain credentials, high school "diplomas" or
college "degrees." The owners and operators of these
schools often make huge profits through tuition
payments, typically paid with federal, state or private
loans obtained by or on behalf of the students.
Many state and federal laws prohibit unfair and deceptive practices and
some laws also reward whistleblowers who report fraud
committed against the government. |
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