After keeping track of the Googasian P.C.’s Class Action lawsuit against Belford since it started, I think there are various conspicuous weaknesses in the case, where the plaintiffs are heading towards an impending loss in this particular scenario.
Being a Civil Rights Lawyer myself, I believe Googasian P.C. is a firm of legal representatives who, although, have been associated with the legal fraternity since years, have not been able to find any major success during their history. But the Belford lawsuit could get the Googasian into a fix since the case is being misrepresented on behalf of the plaintiffs. Given that this is a class action law suit, it has its weaknesses. Googasian is still pursuing this case since the past two years in an effort to make something out of it, but is still without any significant progress. I’ve followed this lawsuit through time, and would like to share a few developments along with various aspects of this case in the following passage.
History of the Case
In November 2009, a class action law suit was filed against Belford High School by Googasian P.C. in the U.S. District Court of Detroit which alleged that Belford High School is a “sophisticated internet rip-off scheme” that defrauds students of their money. The case was filed by Googasian on behalf of 3 students of Belford High School acting as members in the class action and indicted Belford of providing them with “invalid and unaccredited” High School diplomas. The case was also filed against the accreditation bodies of Belford High School, International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities (IAAOU) and Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation (UCOEA).
Current Scenario
Through the lifetime of this lawsuit, no significant progress has been in favor of Googasian or any of the plaintiffs. The fact of the matter is that Googasian won a major law suit against Academy of Court Reporting Inc in 2009, through which they achieved heavy financial gains, and have lost spectacle of genuine legal pursuits while being on an easy money mission. However, in this particular case it seems that the status of the plaintiffs is yet unclear. Some of the plaintiffs are reported to have already bailed out of the case while the rest are faltering with a dubious future ahead of them.
Although, Class Actions are an effective and significant method of curbing any commercial malpractices, my major concerns in this case are the repercussions that the plaintiffs may face if the case is being misrepresented. In a class action law suit, class members often receive little or no benefit from class actions and examples cited for this include hefty fees for the attorneys, while leaving class members with coupons or other awards of little or no value. Specifically in this case, the plaintiffs will not even get a full refund of the fee they paid to the school even if they win the case. Since it is being filed by Googasian on behalf of them, Googasian will be awarded the litigation fee along with compensation while the plaintiffs will only be granted an insignificant amount.
Why Should I Join the Case?
I have pondered a few times over the fact that what could be the future of the case since I’m ardently following it. But this is a class action case, which is being misrepresented and is weak on the plaintiffs end; although class action cases have their downsides as well. Following are some of the reasons discussed for the same.
- Existing law requires judicial approval of all class action settlements, and in most cases class members are given a chance to opt out of class settlement. Class members, despite opt-out notices, may be unaware of their right to opt-out because they did not receive the notice, did not read it, or did not understand it. Similarly, through reliable sources it has come to my knowledge that one of the plaintiffs has already opted out of the case, while the rest of the plaintiffs are also planning to do so due to the insignificant stakes involved. According to an estimate, the class members would only get a maximum of 30% of the fee they paid to Belford High School for the diploma in compensation, while most of the compensation goes to Googasian along with the litigation fee. There were reports that a few members of the Belford Alumni wanted to become part of the class members, however they also backed out, realizing the bounty involved was inconsequential.
- Another error on the class members’ end was that despite having complete knowledge about the product/service being offered by Belford, they still went ahead with the case and became class members. The Belford High School website unmistakably states that the degrees are offered on the basis of life experience and test evaluation without having to take any courses or classes. The product is delivered to the recipient within 15 days of ordering and is fully accredited. Although class members had full comprehension of these facts, they still filed a case against Belford.
- Similarly, the class members deliberately knowing and understanding the clearly stated Terms of Service and the Refund Policy employed by Belford High School lodged a case against the High School. Since they were unsatisfied with the product or service, the plaintiffs could’ve easily gotten a refund of the full fee they paid to Belford, instead of the 30% of fee which will be awarded to plaintiffs if they get the settlement. The refund policy is also lucidly stated on the website and students can claim refunds within a specified time frame. I have gone through the Refund Policy and Terms of Service of Belford High School myself and was convinced that all the policies and terms are distinctly stated and should be comprehendible for a student. This is another shortcoming in the case with respect to the plaintiffs.
- There are other possibilities that this lawsuit may head towards. Belford High School, on the parallel, reserves the right to counter claim the class action and can file for damages pertaining to defamation, perjury and related charges. A class action lawsuit can also be filed against the plaintiffs on behalf of the Belford High School Alumni community since a lot of students have already gotten their High School diplomas from there. So this could go bad for the plaintiffs.
Those were some of the reasons why I would not want to be a part of the lawsuit. The plaintiffs are evidently misrepresenting the case since a lot of problems pertaining to the comprehension of the product/service along with the Terms of Service and Refund Policy of Belford High School. In my opinion the plaintiffs are misleading the case and are aiming for a large sum of compensatory money. However, what they are unaware of is that in any case, they won’t be going home with a lot of money.
Future Implications
If Belford High School files a counter claim on the plaintiffs, this case cannot move towards Class Certification, which is the last resort for the plaintiffs. Class Certification is where the claims of the individual class members will be authenticated and certified by the court in support of the plaintiffs. Upon certification, Belford may object to whether the issues are appropriately handled as a class action, or to whether the named plaintiffs are sufficiently representative of the class. However, the alleged claims of the plaintiffs seem baseless and trivial; and this case cannot progress towards certification. This situation in the future looks more likely to be favoring Belford High School.
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