http://www.thedahloneganugget.com/artic ... %20hla.txtHidden Lake class action hangs in balance
By Matt Aiken
To be a class action or not to be a class action? That is the multi-million dollar question which could determine the ultimate fate of Hidden Lake Academy,
With the Camp Wahsega Road boarding school reeling in the wake of a civil lawsuit, that question has yet to be answered by Judge William C. O'Kelley of the United States District Court.
Two weeks earlier the judge set aside an entire day within the walls of the federal courthouse in Gainesville in which to entertain a series of motions involving the pending lawsuit.
On Sept. 11 2006, a civil suit was filed against the school by families of two former students who accused the school and its founder Dr. Len Buccellato of a laundry list of ethical oversights, including the alleged misappropriation of funds, the knowing acceptance of ?violent? and ?disturbed? children and the routine hiring of uncertified teachers.
Since the filing of the suit, HLA's legal team of King & Spalding reported that the school has suffered a large drop in enrollment which has resulted in salary cuts and numerous firings.
?Not to ring the bell too hard,? said defense lawyer Letitia McDonald at the beginning of the hearing. ?This could be a moot issue. The school is teetering for lack of a better word.?
As the proceeding got under way one half of the courtroom was occupied by a group of parents and potential class action applicants. Many of the parents cast occasional glares at Buccellato and the handful of HLA administrators who sat entrenched on the opposite side of the courtroom.
Amidst it all HLA's legal team argued long and loud against the possible certification while portraying such a suit as the nail in the coffin for a school that was once the fourth largest private employer in Lumpkin County.
?I don't believe I've seen a case where plaintiffs proposed a class action ... on so thin an argument,? said Barry Goheen of King & Spalding.
Much of the agrument revolved around HLA's 70-page parental handbook.
The plaintiffs' legal teams of Gorby, Reeves and Peters have pointed to numerous alleged misleading statements in the handbook that detail the reported services provided at Hidden Lake.
The plaintiffs argued that this handbook included the guarantees, such as certified teachers and non-court ordered students, which convinced many parents to pay the approximate rate of $6,000 monthly tuition.
However, the defense argued that even if such promises are hypothetically untrue, they were not actually included on the parents' signed contract.
?The issue is the plethora of individual issues the handbook brings into the case,? continued Goheen. ?Determining whether each parent read the entire 70-page handbook should be determined on a class-by-class basis.?
O'Kelley seemed to agree with this sentiment.
?You've got to go outside the document [contract] to establish what your expectations were on the part of the parents,? he said. ?And it's very possibly and probably very different for each one of them.?
Merrill Davidoff of the plaintiffs' legal team countered by arguing that such materials are key in a parent's arduous decision to enroll their child in a year-round boarding school.
?I think that the proof will be that somewhere from 97-100 percent had it in front of them and that's enough,? said Davidoff ?They say these are our policies, practices and procedures. I don't know what could be more clear.?
?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.
As the hearing drew to a close the plaintiffs' legal team requested a new period of limited discovery in which to further research the details of the case.
?We really should get some discovery,? said Davidoff, ?before Your Honor makes a precipitous decision to deny the class.?
As of Tuesday morning O'Kelly had yet to officially approve or deny such a request.
?The motion to certify is the one that is the most disturbing, and I have real problems with that,? surmised O'Kelley at the end of the hearing. ?And you obviously saw it because I think I started asking questions about it the very first thing this morning ... and I just have difficulty with that issue.
?But if it requires more discovery, I may set a pattern and allow you to do that, but whatever I do, I want it to be the right thing. And I expect it to be. And I know it will be.?
