Clayton College of Natural Health

















 

 

 
Court Holds Final Hearing to Approve Settlement

The parties are presently awaiting a Court Order with regards to the settlement, which is anticipated on or after May 15, 2012.  On February 15, 2012, the Honorable Harwell G. Davis III held a hearing in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Birmingham in which Class Counsel sought final approval of the settlement of this class action. Any settlement payments to claimants can only be made after an Order approving the settlement becomes final. In the meantime, questions with regard to claims, acknowledgment forms, and dispute forms can be directed to the claims administrator, Garden City Group, at (888) 714-2544. This website also will be periodically updated.
 

Note to Claimants Receiving
Acknowledgment of Receipt of Valid Claim Forms

The claims administrator, Garden City Group, has begun to send out acknowledgment of receipt of valid claim forms to claimants. Some of these forms state a "My Tuition Amount" of $0. The administrator presently is utilizing the data made available to it from Clayton College, which clearly is not complete. Claimants who receive an acknowledgment form with a "My Tuition Amount" of $0 or another number that appears to be in error should complete and submit a dispute form providing additional information and documents demonstrating what they believe their correct "My Tuition Amount" to be. A dispute form is available here. Because the deadline for submission of dispute forms is February 15, 2012, dispute forms should promptly be submitted.
In November 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Birmingham, seeking recoveries on behalf of thousands of adults enrolled in prepaid distance education programs at Clayton College of Natural Health, Inc. The lawsuit comes in the wake of CCNH’s announcement in July 2010 that it was suddenly closing the school and its distance education programs after more than 20 years
of operation.		 Clayton College of Natural Health

The lawsuit alleges that at the time of the closing, CCNH had already collected tens of millions of dollars in tuition from Plaintiffs and a class of similarly situated persons for programs that CCNH summarily stopped providing. After the abrupt termination of its distance education programs, CCNH failed to refund tuition, according to the lawsuit

On November 15, 2011, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama certified this case as a class action and granted preliminary approval of a settlement in the case. The settlement, reached through negotiations with a mediator, will create a settlement fund from which claimants can seek compensation, among other benefits. A formal Class Notice from the Court regarding the settlement has been mailed.  For a copy of the Class Notice, click here, for a copy of the Claim Form, click here.
 

Class Counsel for the former students are Thomas H. Howlett and Dean M. Googasian of The Googasian Firm, P.C., who may be contacted by calling 1-877-540-8333, or by clicking here or sending an e-mail to ccnhlawsuit@googasian.com. Joining The Googasian Firm in pursuit of the lawsuit as local counsel is the Birmingham, Alabama-based law firm, Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davies & Rouco, LLC.

According to the lawsuit, CCNH marketed its programs as affording students the ability to learn and pursue degree and certificate programs with flexibility as to the time within which they were completed. In its 2008 catalog, CCNH stated that, “At CCNH, the self-paced programs are designed to fit your schedule, so that any part of the day becomes study time and assignments may be submitted at your convenience. In order to help you organize your studies and ‘stay on track,’ degree programs are divided into phases. Although you must complete the phases of your program sequentially, there is no requirement that you take every course in the order it appears in the phase. It is our expectation that you will complete all phases of each individual degree program within five years. At CCNH, you enroll, study, and progress on your schedule, not ours.” But the sudden closure of CCNH precludes these students from completing the distance education programs for which they had paid and devoted considerable time and effort, the lawsuit alleges.

If you have a concern about experiences with CCNH or Magnolia, click here to share
these concerns.

The lawsuit asserts breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and other claims, and seeks compensation for the tuition amounts paid for programs that are no longer available and for Plaintiffs’ loss of time and opportunity, among other damages. A copy of the lawsuit can be found by clicking here.

In accordance with Alabama State Bar requirements, no representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. ARPC 7.2 (e).