Donald Trump won a key legal battle last week when a federal district court in California partially decertified a class action lawsuit against Trump and the now-defunct Trump University, which once offered real estate classes.
The lawsuit is one of several against Trump regarding the university, and claims that students were lured into the classes with false advertising, “like an infomercial,” with no real hope of recouping their educational investment. The plaintiffs in the case included six former students from California, Missouri, Florida, and New York.
The court allowed the suit to proceed on the claim of liability. However, it found that there was no common claim for damages. The students wanted full refunds, but Trump’s legal team argued, and the court agreed, that some representatives of the class had admitted receiving at least some value from the courses. The result is that each plaintiff would have to proceed with separate legal actions to recover damages, which will be prohibitive for most.
A statement by the Trump legal team said the ruling “validates the fact that Trump University provided a legitimate and valuable real estate education.”
That, coupled “with the fact that 98% of all Trump University students rated the program ‘excellent,’ and was also rated ‘A’ by the Better Business Bureau, will ultimately doom Plaintiffs’ claims.”
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