Shortly after President Trump was sworn in as our 45th president, he appeared to settle fraud claims stemming from his real estate seminar program at Trump University, otherwise known as the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, by shelling out $25 million. He agreed to settle in order to resolve all of the claims and “to avoid a trial and distractions to his presidency.” However, a former student may throw all that to the wind.
Shortly after President Trump was sworn in as our 45th president, he appeared to settle fraud claims stemming from his real estate seminar program at Trump University, otherwise known as the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, by shelling out $25 million. He agreed to settle in order to resolve all of the claims and “to avoid a trial and distractions to his presidency.” However, a former student may throw all that to the wind.
Sherri Simpson of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is “now asking to opt out of the settlement,” and even asked a federal judge on Monday to reject the settlement “unless former students are given an opportunity to be excluded from the deal so they can sue Mr. Trump individually.”
So how does this affect the settlement proposed by President Trump? Well, if a judge approves the request and “decides that Ms. Simpson and potentially others should have that chance” to sue Trump individually, “it could disrupt the settlement” and make more of a headache for the president surrounding a problem that he seems to just want to disappear. In addition to wanting to settle the case to avoid distractions to his presidency, Trump also tweeted shortly after the settlement announcement “that he did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U.” Naturally, he rejects the allegations against Trump University and has yet to acknowledge any fault in the situation.
For those who don’t know, the settlement was offered in response to the litigation surrounding Trump University that first began when “two federal class-action fraud lawsuits and a parallel state court action” were brought forward by Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General. The lawsuits “accused Trump U. of deceiving students by falsely claiming that Trump knew the instructors and that the school was an accredited university.” Instead of being an accredited university, Trump University was a for-profit training program for those interested in learning all of Trump’s “secrets to creating a real estate empire” while charging students up to $35,000 to attend. Additionally, students claim they were “cheated out of tuition through high-pressure sales tactics and misleading claims about what they would learn.”
Lawyers spoke up on behalf of the class-action plaintiffs, claiming the settlement was “terrific” and that Ms. Simpson’s objection “seemed politically motivated.” One of the lawyers, Patrick Coughlin, said that he fears “the objection could result in delays for students who have waited years to get money back.” He added, “she could have excluded herself before and pursued her own litigation. That time passed.”
Lawyers on the other side of the aisle, representing Ms. Simpson, argue “that a notice sent to students about the class-action lawsuits in 2015 left the impression that they could later request to be excluded from a settlement, but that opportunity was not afforded to them in the agreement.” According to one of her lawyers, Gary Friedman of New York, “there was precious little reason to exercise the right to opt out at that juncture” in 2015. He added, “the case was barreling toward trial, by all accounts.”
Despite Ms. Simpson’s desire to opt out of the settlement, some experts say she may not end up getting what she wants. According to Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, “Judge Curiel would probably give the objection serious consideration, but that he would have to weigh it against substantial pressure to hold the deal together.” He added, “a lot of work has gone into this, and people are generally satisfied all around.” And he’s not wrong. When all is said and done, it’s estimated that about 7,000 former students will recoup half to all of what they spent on courses at Trump University.
When asked about Ms. Simpson’s request, lawyers for Trump declined to comment.
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