California Federal Judge Grants Preliminary Approval of Paramedic Student
On March 28, 2017, Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California granted preliminary approval of a class settlement that will benefit thousands of paramedic school students across California. In 2014, SSH filed a class action against the National College of Technical Instruction (“NCTI”), a d.b.a. of American Medical Response, Inc. (“AMR”), alleging that NCTI failed to timely place its students in the state-mandated hospital and field internships, misrepresented that favorable job treatment would be provided after graduation by AMR, and misrepresented the amount of time it would take to graduate from the program, among other things. On May 19, 2016, the Court certified a liability class of all California-based NCTI students. On October 24, 2016 the Court denied most of NCTI’s motions for summary judgment, and granted plaintiffs summary judgment on one of their claims, finding that NCTI’s statements about favorable job treatment were undisputed misrepresentations.
Following those decisions, SSH was able to negotiate the pending settlement. “We are pleased to have been able to work out a resolution with NCTI that delivers meaningful relief to these former students on a class-wide basis,” said class counsel Jason Hartley.
The settlement that was preliminarily approved, if made final by the Court, would provide thousands of dollars in refunds to students who were delayed or never placed in their internships. Notice to the class, with more specific details regarding the amount of recovery and the settlement process for class members, will be distributed as soon as possible.
