Class Action Suit Against Mountain State U

[Martin Eisenstadt]

Things are getting nasty at Mountain State. More lawsuits threatened, allegations of criminal conduct made. As CCNH students discovered, once these class action suits finish up the lawyers collect all the real money and the students get pennies on the dollar.

...A Charles Town law firm also said it would file a lawsuit against MSU if it does not make an offer to settle with nursing students.

Stephen Skinner with the Skinner Law Firm said before the recent announcement of the HLC's decision, the firm sent a formal notice to MSU stating it would file a suit.

"Under a portion of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, you have to give MSU the opportunity to make an offer in order to file suit and be able to collect all the damages. And we have not heard back from them yet," he said.

Skinner said the firm will file its lawsuit July 24 if the university has not yet responded.

"We are also hearing from a lot of other students who are considering other suits," Skinner said. "We believe that this is a criminal enterprise and (former MSU President) Charles Polk needs to be held personally liable."

Skinner also said he and his clients are worried about issues they think they could encounter if they win the suit.

"We're afraid we will get to the end of it and there is no insurance assets left and there will be nothing," he said. "So of course, Dr. Polk needs to empty out all of his coffers to pay these students back. I hope that he doesn't spend money on lawyers rather than trying to make these students whole."

"When you think about someone who has spent three years of their life in the nursing program and all of those credits don't transfer and they have to start all over again, looking at just in the loss of future wages three years at $50,000 a year. You have to start over again," Skinner added. "Most can't afford it because they maxed out student loans. Most of my people are not getting the same degree — they're getting a lesser degree because they can't afford anything else. I really hope that the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District looks into this."

http://www.statejournal.com/story/190550...enrollment

The statue of former Mountain State University President Charles Polk is adorned with a paper towel scarf Tuesday. Polk was fired in January, and one school employee said Tuesday she thought he was the root cause of the university's loss of accreditation.

...[Charles] Polk had served as president of the university since 1990. The board fired him in January. Toilet paper was draped around the neck of Polk's statue still standing in a building on campus.

A woman -- who would only give her middle name, Elizabeth, for fear she might be fired -- said the board should have fired Polk sooner. She thinks the statue should be removed as well.

"It's a daily reminder of our situation," said Elizabeth, who has worked in the building for about three years. "It's like pouring salt in our wounds."

http://www.dailymail.com/News/201207100067