Class Action against George Brown College certified
On April 8, 2010, Justice Strathy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a class action lawsuit against George Brown College on behalf of students who enrolled in the International Business Management Program between 2007 and 2008.
A copy of the Court-approved Notice of Certification may be obtained by clicking here.
If you are a member of the class of persons described above, you will automatically be included in the class action and are not required to take any further steps at this time. If you do not wish to participate in the class action, you may opt out by following the process described in the Notice of Certification. Please note that the deadline to opt out of the Class Action is August 2, 2011.
George Brown is a publicly-funded Ontario community college.
The lawsuit alleges that George Brown offered a post-graduate program promising three industry designations upon graduation. The program was marketed to Canadian as well as international students, including students from India and China.
The students paid as much as $11,000 tuition to attend the 8-month program. This did not include the cost of lodging, transportation and books.
At the conclusion of the program, the students learned that they were not eligible to receive the industry designations, because George Brown did not have any agreement in place with the industry associations responsible for awarding the designations. The students were no better off than any member of the public who wished to obtain the designations.
The designations can lead to careers in the International Business Management field. The industry designations were: the Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) designation, the Certified Customs Specialist (CCS) designation and the Certificate in International Freight Forwarding (CIFF).
George Brown sent representatives to countries such as India and China to recruit students for the program. Many students were forced to return to their home countries when they were unable to obtain employment in the international business field.
The lawsuit seeks damages for students who enrolled in the International Business Management Program between 2007 and 2008. In 2008, George Brown changed the wording of the course calendar to clarify that the program did not automatically lead to the awarding of the designations.
In his 76-page reasons for decision, Justice Strathy stated, "Most students would read the calendar description. The prominence given to the Industry Designations in the calendar would suggest that it was a significant representation."
Justice Strathy concluded "a class action will provide access to justice to a vulnerable group of students, many of whom are from different lands and cultures. Class Members may lack the individual resources, initiative and sophistication to pursue legal action on their own and may be intimidated by the legal process."
Finally, Justice Strathy stated, "accountability is the first step towards behaviour modification and a class action requires wrongdoers to account for their behaviour, not simply to correct it… the goal of behaviour modification is particularly important in the case of public institutions."
Justice Strathy certified claims for misrepresentation, breach of contract and breach of the Consumer Protection Act.
Katrina Ramdath, the lead plaintiff, is ecstatic about the decision.
"We enrolled in the program relying on George Brown's representation that we would receive the designations. Many of my classmates came from China and India specifically to attend this program. We needed the designations to get jobs in this field. I left a well-paying job to attend George Brown. It took a year out of our lives, and some students had to get student loans to pay for the program. Now we have to start over because the program turned out to be worth nothing more than a piece of paper. On behalf of all the students, we look forward to making George Brown accountable."
For more information about this class action please contact Victoria Paris at
(416) 349-6572 or vp@kimorr.ca.