I was a student of ITT Technical Institute. I had finished my last semester, August 2016. I was told to meet at the campus the following Saturday to pick up my Cap & Gown for the upcoming graduation scheduled for Saturday the 17th 2016. Just shortly thereafter, the first week of September, in fact, just 2 days ago, 09/07/2016, there was an announcement on world news that ALL ITT Technical Institute Schools nation-wide were forced to permanently shut down.
The sudden closure of ITT Technical Institute has left tens of thousands of students wondering if their time spent at the for-profit school was a waste, leaving them with nothing but debt and worthless college credits.
The now-closed ITT Technical Institute faces three lawsuits from employees that said it violated the law when it abruptly shut down earlier this week.
The lawsuits claim the for-profit college violated the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act – or WARN Act- that requires employees be given at least 60 days notices before a mass layoff. The law covers employers with more than 100 employees and businesses sites with more than 50 workers.
ITT announced Tuesday it was closing all locations nationwide amid a crackdown on federal student loans used at the school. The move left as many as 45,000 students without a school and 8,000 employees without a job.
The suits were filed in Indiana and Delaware, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported. The employees are seeking wages and benefits they would have received if given 60 days' notice before closing.
One of the lawsuits is seeking class-action status to cover all employees who lost their jobs.
In August, the U.S. Department of Education announced it was banning ITT from enrolling new students who depended on federal loans to pay for classes after a series of investigation into its recruiting and job placement claims. The department also required ITT to increase its financial reserves to cover costs related to a possible closure.
