Donald Trump settles University lawsuits for $25m
United States President-elect Donald Trump settled three lawsuits faced by Trump University for $25 million. Two lawsuits came from California and one from New York, all three stating that the university was fraudulent and misled students by failing to upkeep promises. In the course of his election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that he wouldn't settle in the class-action lawsuits.
Allegations of the lawsuits
According to the lawsuits, Trump-University presented itself as an accredited institution, promising to teach "real estate secrets from hand-picked instructors." Students were expected to pay up to $35,000 for the same. The accusations claimed that there was no dissemination of "Trump methods or secrets." Some of the accusations stated that despite using terms like 'professors', 'adjunct professors' and 'tuition' it was never a university.
On settling
Previously, in a San Diego rally in May, Donald Trump said, "I don't want to settle cases when we're right. I don't believe in it. One thing about me, I am not known as a settler."
Terms of Settlement
Under the settlement, $21 million will be disseminated amongst the plaintiffs in San Diego cases and $4 in the New York case. Members of the class-action suits are expected to recover 55%, even 100% of the money they spent on the University. Plaintiffs attorney Rachel Jensen said, "students will be able to pay their credit card bills and move on with their lives."
Reactions to the settlement
In a statement, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said, "Today's $25 million settlement agreement is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university." However, Trump's attorney Daniel Petrocelli said, "President Trump is pleased to have this case behind him so he can focus on every important issue facing this country."
