College Scandal Class Action Seeks Application Fees Reimbursement

A class action lawsuit seeks college application fees reimbursement for students who claim that the admissions process was not fair since wealthy families were able to bribe their way into the schools. 

Plaintiffs Tyler Bendis, Julia Bendis, Nicholas James Johnson and James Johnson filed the college scandal class action lawsuit in light of news that William “Rick” Singer and affluent parents conspired to get their children into elite colleges, though they would not otherwise qualify.

The plaintiffs seek reimbursement for the admission application fees that they paid for students to apply to these schools because the admissions process was biased.

The college admissions scandal class action lawsuit is filed against William “Rick” Singer, The Key Worldwide Foundation, The Edge College & Career Network LLC, “The Key,” University of Southern California, Stanford University, University of California Los Angeles, University of San Diego, The University of Texas at Austin, Wake Forest University, Yale University, and Georgetown University.

Allegedly, Rick Singer used a fraudulent college admissions mentoring company to help the students of wealthy parents cheat on college admissions exams and falsified student applicants’ profiles to make it appear as if the student was a talented athlete.

The college scandal class action states that these elements helped the students gain admission into elite universities.

Singer reportedly charged wealthy parents a significant amount of money to do this, and created a fraudulent charity so the parents could write off this payment as a charitable contribution on their taxes.

Tyler Bendis is a student at a community college in Orange County, Calif. and Julia Bendis is his mother. Nicholas James Johnson is a resident of Middlesex County, N.J., as is his father, James Johnson.

Tyler Bendis says he applied to UCLA, Stanford, and USD, and was not accepted, despite having a 4.0 GPA, good test scores, and the fact that he was a pole vaulter on his school’s track team.

Julia Bendis, Tyler’s mother, says that she paid admissions fees of between $50 and $100 for each application.

Nicholas James Johnson claims he applied to University of Texas-Austin, Stanford University, and Yale University, and was rejected from all three. He says that he had an SAT of 1500 out of 1600 and a 4.65 GPA (by virtue of AP classes). He says that he was a varsity hockey players and was a star of the school math team. 

James Johnson, Nicholas’ father, says that he paid admissions fees of between $50 and $100 for each college his son applied to.

Allegedly, both Bendis and Johnson, and their parents, were unaware that there was a college bribery scheme underway that enabled wealthy parents to gain admissions for their children at elite universities to which they would not otherwise have been qualified to attend — for a hefty price.

Johnson and Bendis say that had they known that “the system was warped and rigged by fraud, they would not have spent the money to apply to the school.” They go on to claim that they did not receive what they paid for — “a fair admissions consideration process.”

The college admissions scandal class action lawsuit claims that many other students were similarly affected by the scandal, and aims to seek damages on behalf of Bendis and Johnson, as well as all other similarly affected students.

“As a result of both of these coordinated fraudulent bribery schemes, conducted through wire and mail fraud, unqualified students found their way into the admissions rolls of highly selective universities, while those students who played by the rules and did not have college-bribing parents were denied admission,” the college scandal class action states.

Allegedly, some employers at the colleges listed knew of the scheme to allow some students access based on false achievements.

For instance, the college admissions scandal class account lawsuit argues that coaches at some of these schools took bribes to accept students who were falsely presented as talented athletes.

The students and their families are represented by John F. Medler Jr. of The Medler Law Firm APC, and by Caleb Marker, David M. Cialkowski, and Brian C. Gudmundson of Zimmerman Reed LLP.

The College Admissions Scandal Class Action Lawsuit is Tyler Bendis, et al. v. William “Rick” Singer, et al., Case No. 5:19-cv-01405, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.