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Claims
Administrator Completes Claim
Process
and Begins Issuing Checks
The
Garden City Group, Inc. (“GCG”),
the Court-appointed claims
administrator responsible for
processing claims in the
settlement of the class action
arising from the sudden closure
of Clayton College of Natural
Health, Inc. (“CCNH”), has
informed Class Counsel that it
has completed its claim process.
GCG has indicated that it will
begin mailing awards to
claimants starting on Friday,
June 29, 2012. GCG has further
reported that it received 5,332
claims, including 5,261 claims
that were determined by the
Court to be timely in its Final
Order entered on May 25, 2012.
GCG
has indicated that it will be
sending settlement payments to
4,871 claimants who have been
determined by GCG to be Group A
or Group B claimants whose “My
Tuition Amount” claims were
approved by GCG during the claim
administration process. Each
such Group A and Group B
Claimant will receive a pro rata
or proportionate share of their
“My Tuition Amount” approved by
GCG. Each Group A and Group B
claimant’s proportionate share
will come from net settlement
funds totaling $1,550,991.30.
According to GCG, the aggregate
Total Tuition Amount for all
Group A and Group B claimants
whose claims were approved by
GCG is $18,640,766.67. The
process for calculating Group A
and Group B claimant awards was
detailed further on pages 7 and
8 of the Class Notice and on
page 6 of the Court’s Final
Order entered on May 25, 2012.
The
mailings from GCG also will
contain information about
tuition discount and credit
transfer opportunities available
to approved claimants at two
other natural health schools,
neither of which is affiliated
with or connected to CCNH.
Claimants with questions may
contact GCG in writing at
Clayton College Class Action
Claims, c/o The Garden City
Group, Inc., P.O. Box 9790,
Dublin, OH 43017-5690, or call
(888) 714-2544. |
Court
Grants Final Approval to Settlement
On May 25, 2012, United States
Magistrate Judge Harwell G. Davis,
III issued a final order granting
final approval to the settlement
reached in Goldberg v. Clayton
College of Natural Health, Inc.,
Case No. 2:10-cv-02990-HGD. Judge
Davis ruled that the settlement is
fair, adequate and reasonable. The
settlement creates a $2.31 million
Settlement Fund and provides for
claimants to receive tuition
discounts and credit transfer
opportunities at two other natural
health schools. A copy of the
Court’s 43-page opinion can be
reviewed
here.
In light of the Court’s entry of the
final order, the Court-appointed
Claims Administrator, Garden City
Group, is now making final
calculations and determinations with
regard to 5,261 claimants who
submitted claims to the Claims
Administrator that the Court has
ruled may be entitled to benefits.
Pursuant to the Court’s final order,
claimants may receive distributions
from a fund totaling $1,552,136.86,
following Court-approved payment of
attorney fees and costs. A method
for calculating distributions was
approved by the Court and is set
forth on pages 7 and 8 of the Class
Notice, which can be reviewed
here.
Garden City Group currently
anticipates completing its
calculations and determinations by
June 30, 2012, and mailing checks to
claimants soon thereafter.
Questions with regard to the
remaining claims process can be
directed to Garden City Group at
(888) 714-2544. This website will
also be periodically updated. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Class Counsel for the
former students are Thomas H. Howlett and Dean M.
Googasian of The Googasian Firm, P.C. 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.
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).
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