Dive Summary:
- Single mother Jennifer Kerr filed suit against Missouri for-profit Vatterott College told her their medical assistant's degree would, via transfer credits, put her on the "fast track" to fulfilling her dream of becoming a nurse, but 60 weeks and $27,000 in loans later, Kerr found she was actually enrolled in the preliminary medical office assistant's program.
- The school told Kerr that continuing on for the medical assistant's degree would take an additional 90 weeks and another $10,000, so she filed suit and, on Friday, was awarded $27,676 in actual damages and $13 million in punitive damages by a Jackson County jury.
- Though the jury found that Vatterott Educational Centers Inc. violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, Kerr's lawyer said the decision is likely to be appealed and that the punitive amount exceeds what is allowed under Missouri law--with the maximum Kerr can receive being either $500,000 or five times actual damages plus other expenses.
From the article:
... The court’s decision will give Kerr the money to repay thousands of dollars in federal loans for a certificate of completion as a medical office assistant that she said has been all but useless to her.
“It’s not even a degree,” she said. ...