Cruella DeVos Held In Contempt For Violating Court Order Banning Her From Predatory Collection Efforts For Scam University
A federal judge held US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos aka Cruella DeVos in contempt of court. Judge Sally Kim also imposed a $100,000 fine against Cruella DeVos for violating a federal court order. DeVos had been aggressively pursuing student loan debt owed by students of a defunct for-profit college.
The rare judicial rebuke came after the Trump administration was forced to admit that it collected on the loans of some 16,000 borrowers who attended Corinthian Colleges.
The federal court ordered to stop doing so in May 2018.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim wrote that “the evidence shows only minimal efforts to comply with the preliminary injunction”
The lawsuit also names Cruella DeVos as Secretary of Education. However, she will not be personally responsible for paying the $100,000 in monetary sanctions. Taxpayers will pay the sanctions.
The judge also ordered the fine go into a fund held by the former Corinthian students’ attorneys. As a result, it will help defray the damages and expenses associated with the improper collection of the loans, she said. The judge ordered the government and the attorneys to come up with a plan for administering the fund.
Education Department said in a tweet on Thursday evening:
We’re disappointed in the court’s ruling. We acknowledged that servicers made unacceptable mistakes.
An Education Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the department planned to appeal the decision.
The Trump administration had also asked the judge to avoid holding DeVos and the Education Department in contempt or imposing fines. They argued that the department had in good faith to correct the errors. The department said in a court filing that it appreciated the “gravity” of the situation.
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