Technical Schools Had Accredidation Gap, Suit Says
February 7, 2005
Daily Journal Extra
By Draeger Martinez
Students who enrolled in radiology technician-training at two Southern California technical schools claim their alma maters failed them by promising top-flight accreditations the programs didn't have.
A class action alleging fraud, breach of contract and other charges, which could encompass 200 students, claims the students decided to attend the schools based on advertisements pledging that both programs were accredited in radiological training. Each student spent between $26,000 and $28,000 on the program, which included six months in the classroom and eight months in unpaid training positions at hospitals.
Lead plaintiffs' attorney John Quisenberry of Quisenberry Law Firm in Century City says that, if Maric College and Modern Technology Industrial College held these credentials, students would be able to compete for high-paying jobs after graduation.
Instead, Quisenberry says, the schools never got around to completing their accreditation.
"The schools said, 'You'll have a diploma here that will let you sit for the ARRT exam,'" he says, referring to the American Registry of Radiological Technicians. "But the students have not qualified to sit because the school did not have the right accreditations. The students have lost their tuition money and around 1 ½ years in classes and unpaid internships."
Lead defense attorney Keith Zakarin, a litigation partner in the San Diego office of Duane Morris, says his clients have not decided how to approach the case. Cross v. Maric College Inc. BC325115 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 24, 2004).
Quisenberry says that his clients took significant risks to enroll in Maric and Modern's training based on false pretenses.
"These aren't people right out of high school but rather hardworking people with a lot of initiative who did not receive what the written materials promised," he says. "Some students went so far as to sell their homes to pay for the tuition for this program. Most either had to live off savings they accumulated or they took on significant student loans to pay for this instruction."
Quisenberry says the students ranged from their mid-20s to late 30s. Instruction at the 32 ARRT-accredited programs, which covers operation of X-ray equipment and administration of diagnostic materials into patients' bloodstreams, typically lasts longer than Maric's and Modern's programs.
He adds that, as time rolled on, school officials continued to assure students that the accreditation was almost finalized, thus keeping the students' false hopes up.
And, Quisenberry says, he expects the schools' lawyers to try a tricky tactic against the plaintiffs in court.
"After the school went through three class cohorts with catalogs that stated they had ARRT accreditation, they changed their catalogs to remove that language," Quisenberry says. "Later on, [school officials] added language into the students' enrollment forms with the school that requires arbitration in the event of disputes, and they probably want the court to conclude that all the students are covered by these agreements.
"But my clients disagree, and they want a jury to decide."
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