Dive Brief:
- The Associated Press reports on a federal lawsuit filed by two former employees of ITT Technical Institute, who claim the school failed to provide 60 days of notice prior to terminating more than 8,000 workers.
- The lawsuit claims the closure violates federal and state statutes nationwide about prior notice, but campuses with fewer than 50 employees may not be included in the class action filing.
- A similar filing was made against Corinthian Colleges earlier this year after U.S. Department of Education regulations forced closure of several of its campuses.
Dive Insight:
It is difficult to believe that with the amount of coverage of ITT's pending doom, that the corporation did not inform employees of the distinct chance of closure. The school had been forced to pay millions to cover potential refunds to students in the event of shut down, but employees had no prior warning?
Though for-profits are specifically under attack by the federal government, there are other lessons for nonprofit institutions as well, particularly for terminating non-union or adjunct positions in the face of budget cuts, lowered enrollment, or other factors which may impact revenue or employment.