A Newport Beach law firm has filed a claim with the state accusing the Fullerton College Police Academy of acting negligently and fraudulently in regard to 73 former students.
The Roberts Law Firm names the North Orange County Community College District and the academy’s former director, Jerry Stokes, who was put on leave and is now a full-time faculty member again.
In October, the state closed the college’s academy for compliance issues; many of its instructors failed to show that they had sufficient teaching qualifications.
The claim says the academy failed to get state approval of its courses before they started, inaccurately advertised that students could get state certification and ultimately caused seven police officers to be put on desk jobs.
Those seven and their classmates will be offered supplemental training to get certified, a state official has said.
Unless the college accepts the claim, attorneys said they will file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the academy’s 31-member Class of 2015 who graduated in May believing they received state certification to become police officers. The claim also includes the 2016 class, which was disbanded.
“These students made incredible sacrifices to pursue their dreams of becoming police officers only to be told their efforts were for nothing,” attorney Jeffrey Roberts said in a statement. “It’s time for Fullerton College to accept responsibility.”
The claim, which seeks $4.7 million overall, accuses Stokes of being an absent director, delegating his work to others.
The college agreed to reimburse out-of-pocket costs for the most-recent class, but the claim says many students “received no refund at all, others were offered pennies on the dollar.”
District spokeswoman Kai Stearns Moore said the district has settled reimbursements with 30 students. There were 42 in the 2016 class.
The college maintains it met all of the state requirements and disagrees with the disqualification by the state of its academy. The college continues working with the state to regain its certification.
The Roberts Law Firm names the North Orange County Community College District and the academy’s former director, Jerry Stokes, who was put on leave and is now a full-time faculty member again.
In October, the state closed the college’s academy for compliance issues; many of its instructors failed to show that they had sufficient teaching qualifications.
The claim says the academy failed to get state approval of its courses before they started, inaccurately advertised that students could get state certification and ultimately caused seven police officers to be put on desk jobs.
Those seven and their classmates will be offered supplemental training to get certified, a state official has said.
Unless the college accepts the claim, attorneys said they will file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the academy’s 31-member Class of 2015 who graduated in May believing they received state certification to become police officers. The claim also includes the 2016 class, which was disbanded.
“These students made incredible sacrifices to pursue their dreams of becoming police officers only to be told their efforts were for nothing,” attorney Jeffrey Roberts said in a statement. “It’s time for Fullerton College to accept responsibility.”
The claim, which seeks $4.7 million overall, accuses Stokes of being an absent director, delegating his work to others.
The college agreed to reimburse out-of-pocket costs for the most-recent class, but the claim says many students “received no refund at all, others were offered pennies on the dollar.”
District spokeswoman Kai Stearns Moore said the district has settled reimbursements with 30 students. There were 42 in the 2016 class.
The college maintains it met all of the state requirements and disagrees with the disqualification by the state of its academy. The college continues working with the state to regain its certification.
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