Four former students at McCann School of Business have sued the school, alleging it misled them about the accreditation of its medical lab technician program.
In the 23-page lawsuit filed Friday in Schuylkill County Court, the four - Patricia Brobst, Minersville, Jennifer Easparro, Pottsville, Melissa Eckert, Auburn, and Patricia Kiefer, Ashland - alleged that, contrary to what McCann represented, the program is not accredited by the National Accreditation Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences.
"McCann repeatedly and routinely made representations ... that the (program) was certified, accredited and otherwise suited" to allow each of the women to take the American Society for Clinical Pathologist certification examination, the lawsuit reads in part.
As a result, they alleged they cannot take the examination without completing three years of full-time employment as a lab technician and additional course work.
Each of the women asked for unspecified monetary damages, which would be tripled under the state Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer protection laws, plus costs and attorney fees, and demanded a jury trial of the case.
They sued both McCann and Delta Career Education Corp., Virginia Beach, Va., alleging that McCann is an affiliate or subsidiary of Delta.
In the lawsuit, the women alleged McCann never told them that the program was not accredited or that more work would be required of them before they could take the examination. McCann's catalogs and other materials supported those representations, which were material in their decisions to attend and continue at the school, according to the lawsuit.
Those representations, furthermore, were part of the school's contract with each of the women, according to the lawsuit.
"McCann has no adequate legal justification for its breach of contract," the lawsuit reads in part.
Not only did McCann breach its contracts with the women, they violated state law by misrepresenting the nature and qualifications of its program, and by charging tuition and other expenses for an unaccredited program, according to the lawsuit.
"McCann's unfair and deceptive conduct ... created a likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding," thereby violating state law, the lawsuit reads in part.