Federal Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against HLA & Buccell

[Anonymous]

?You pay for a Lincoln Towncar and you get a Ford Pinto,? surmised Davidoff. ?That's what this is.?

?It's still a Ford,? replied O'Kelly.


So is this the judge's logic?:

"You pay for a Therapeutic Boarding School that is supposed to have certified teachers and trained, skilled counselors and you get a TBS (which, by the way, has fought state regulation for years) that has uncertified teachers (some of the teachers aren't even real teachers) and untrained, unskilled counselors," surmises John Doe. "That's what this is."


"It's still a school," - replies the judge.

And, according to Ford, Lincoln Town Car, is a Mercury.

How would Delta feel if they ordered a Boeing 767 and they received a  Boeing 717....?

"It is still a Boeing"..... I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

We came from two counties away, not out of state. From what I remember, almost all cooks, maintenance, security, shipping, janitorial, and the ex ranger camp workers were living in the county already when they got hired. The main ones that came from out of state were counselers who graduated colleges in other states, and maybe a few teachers. But some teachers graduated from North Georgia which is in Dahlonega so they were in county. And almost all of the office employees, clerical type, were in-county. I would say when I was there, 1994-2001, at least 70% of the employees were from North Georgia area. Thats from those years, I have no idea after 2002 what the in-county percentage was of employees. Where you find the out of state hires is in counseling roles mainly and some higher up management positions.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, the observation by the judge doesn't look like his head is in a good place. On the other hand, it's not a ruling.

Say you bought a German Shepherd dog. Say it was very different from the quality of dog you thought you were buying.

It's still a dog, sure, but then the next question becomes important:

Did the seller make material misrepresentations to the buyer?

Did the seller, for instance, show the buyer a falsified pedigree that asserts both parents are champions, when the bitch is from a backyard breeder and the dog who fathered the litter looks like a German Shepherd dog but has no pedigree at all?

Did the seller ensure the puppy was healthy and free of hip defects when it's a sick little sucker?

Did the seller sell *a lot* of puppies who had similarly falsified records? For example, was the seller a pet store chain that sold a lot of sick and/or pedigree-falsified dogs to hundreds of people?

It may still be a dog, but once you get to the next question on the list, it still qualifies as a class.

So, "It's still a Ford," may just mean, "You can't show me you paid for a Ford and got a Schwinn--it's another Ford. So now you're gonna have to show me you've got enough evidence of a pattern of material misrepresentations about this Ford that meet the right criteria for me to certify this as a class."

Don't read too much into the comment. It doesn't look good, but still.

Julie

[Anonymous]

There's a ton of evidence/documentation, but it's whether or not the court chooses to look at the evidence/documentation. Federal court is vastly different than Civil court.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't you think that the length of time this is taking favors the plantiffs?  It at least seems like the judge is looking at the evidence and seriously weighing it.  If the judge were just completely closed off to the idea of certifying it, he could have come back with a judgement much sooner.  Of course I may just be showing my ignorance in such matters.

[Anonymous]

If the school is in such critical financial condition that if the suit gets certified they will shut down by March,  how is the denial to certify going to get HLA so well that it will be all rosey. How can len believe that everything will be just fine?

He has all 5 recently acquired properties for sale, a fire sale.

[Anonymous]

a fire sale.

Wouldn't it be quicker and more in his character to just torch the places and collect the insurance money?

[Deborah]

If the school is in such critical financial condition that if the suit gets certified they will shut down by March,  how is the denial to certify going to get HLA so well that it will be all rosey. How can len believe that everything will be just fine?

Thinking... hoping... the plaintiffs will give up and go away?

[Anonymous]

What's worse, a class action or a dozen different parents individually out for your blood?

[Anonymous]

How many ex-students/current students might be out for blood?

[Lacey]

Hundreds. With the exception of brainwashed saps like Aften.

[RobertBruce]

Good ol Tunafish. Wonder what shes up to these days.

[Anonymous]

If the class is not certified, it will be very expensive for the individual plaintiffs to proceed, and there is not big pot of gold at the end of the expensive litigation.

[Lacey]

But you also have to remember, these are parents that were willing to pay 6000 a month to ship their kids off with no hope of return on that money. I doubt it would cost that much to persue this litigation, and the reward is substantial, even if its not monetary. These parents are obviously quite motivated and determined in the process they've gotten started. For some reason I just cant see them throwing their hands up at the first road block.

But thats just my opinion.

[Anonymous]

$6000 will get them maybe 2 weeks of attorney time.  The parents expected a big return on their investment in HLA- isn't that the point of the lawsuit?  Not having the class certified would be a huge blow. I suspect there will be a few families that pursue individual suits, but not many.