Judge dismisses class action suit against Florida Coastal School of Law
A judge has dismissed a class action suit against a Florida law school whose alumni claimed they were misled about their job prospects after graduation.
U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis of Jacksonville held that the plaintiffs did not have a case against Florida Coastal School of Law under the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Daily Business Review (sub. req.) reports.
The decision followed a recommendation by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia D. Barksdale, who found it was unreasonable for the plaintiffs to assume the school’s published employment data included only full-time legal jobs.
The graduates could have deduced it would be difficult to find full-time legal jobs after graduating from a poorly ranked school during a recession, she said. They also had plenty of information at their disposal about their actual job prospects, she added.
“A person considering law school, while not necessarily sophisticated, is college-educated and may be reasonably expected to perform some due diligence that goes beyond glancing at a for-profit enterprise’s self-serving numbers before plunging into substantial debt,” she wrote.
The suit was filed by seven alumni on behalf of the school’s 2012 students and graduates. They sought $100 million in damages and an injunction against the use of “deceptive” employment and salary statistics.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs said he was not surprised by the decision, but refused to say whether his clients are planning an appeal.
Florida Coastal President Dennis Stone said he was “pleased but not surprised” by the ruling. He said the school has “rigorous internal control processes” to ensure that it maintains the highest standards of accuracy regarding its reporting of graduate employment data.
The suit was the first of its kind in Florida but only one of several such cases nationwide, most of which have also been dismissed.
