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Student Wins First Settlement in Le Cordon Bleu Mass Lawsuit
By Anne Bucher
A student who alleged that Le Cordon Bleu fraudulently promised lucrative job opportunities upon completing their culinary program was awarded $217,000 in the first settlement agreement reached in over 1,000 lawsuits filed against the cooking school in 2008.
Anna Berkowitz and her father Martin Berkowitz had been led to believe that Anna would earn at least $75,000 upon completing the culinary program, allowing her to pay off the extensive loans she was encouraged to take out.
According to data presented in the mass lawsuit — being identified in some media outlets as a class action lawsuit even though the cases are being settled individually either out of court or through arbitration — the average salary of a restaurant chef-owner was $79,222 whereas a pastry chef received an average of $47,024. While these averages are inflated by hotels, the pay for independent restaurant chefs was significantly lower. A pastry chef with one year of experience earned an average salary of $28,333.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuits alleged that Le Cordon Bleu’s marketing strategy draws in students with its “become a chef” advertising and promising a high rate of placement for graduates of the program. The plaintiffs accuse the company of false advertising, claiming that the culinary school includes in these statistics graduates who attain jobs as line cooks and other positions that do not require a culinary degree.
Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit include current or former students of Le Cordon Bleu, which is also known as the California School of Culinary Arts. They accuse the company of marketing Le Cordon Bleu to prospective students with “misleading statements, significant omissions, assertions of fact that the Defendants had no reasonable ground for believing to be true, and outright lies” to convince them that they would be better off financially and professionally by attending Le Cordon Bleu. The plaintiffs allege that they are now burdened by non-dischargeable student loans that they cannot afford to pay.
According to the class action lawsuit, Le Cordon Bleu’s marketing materials suggested that students of the culinary program could forge ahead in their careers without spending years working up the culinary ladder. The advertisements suggested that graduates of the programs would be qualified to work as well-respected chefs. Prospective students were provided with placement statistics that indicated that as many as 96 percent of graduates were placed. Because all of the marketing materials implied that graduates moved on to become chefs, the plaintiffs interpreted this data to mean that the vast majority of graduates were employed as chefs or equivalent positions. As a result, they took out loans to help them afford the $22,000 to $50,000 required to enroll in the culinary program.
The plaintiffs filed their lawsuits after learning that graduates of the program are very rarely hired as chefs. The majority of graduates find work in entry level positions, earning between $8 and $12 per hour, an insufficient amount to help them pay back their loans in a timely manner.
Updated July 3rd, 2013
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89 thoughts onStudent Wins First Settlement in Le Cordon Bleu Mass Lawsuit
I went to PCI 2005/2006 I would love to have some info as well, maybe we can start our own class action suit
I Attended LCB in Dallas, never had an opportunity as expected. I would like to have more info about this. Thanks
Man sign me up! I too went to LCB in San Francisco back in 2008-9 for Patisserie & Baking and had to take a leave of absence due to health reasons for a few months…. It was set up for me just to pick up where I left off I only had 1 class to finish…. But when I came back They changed the curriculum added a couple extra classes changed the uniform added more books and was moving the dorms from the Tenderloin…. And I would have to pay more for housing even though it was supposed to have been paid thru Graduation…. In which I had to take another loan out to cover all of these extra add-ons i.e. Books, Uniforms, Added Classes & Housing… And they didn’t even give me a heads up that they were doing all of that…. I didn’t find out til I traveled Back to SF and was ready to start my classes back up….. I’ve been trying to find work any and everywhere…. No LUCK…. So I gave up looking in the industry…. Working odd Jobs… And now stuck wit a 50(k)+ Debt……….. WORST MISTAKE I EVER MADE…. And Literally Paying for it!
I would like to join the class action lawsuit after being mislead about the pay and being a \chef\ after completion. I attended in Mendota Heights,MN 1999-2000 and 2006-2007 to obtain Associate in Applied Science Degree.That has left me 30(k) in debt. Also, low paying job to pay loans. Very unhappy about this fraudulent act on the behalf of lcb.
I would like more information. I went to lcb back in 2002.
I graduated from Le cordon bleu in 2005 in Orlando FL. I was told a good faith estamite payment of $220.00 a month which I would pay after 6 months of my graduation. That was a lie. I revived my first payment bill of almost $700.00 a month. I was only making $8 an hour at the time so I had to default into forbearance. This brought my loan from original $32000.00 to well over $60000.00. I pay almost $5000.00 in interest alone on this loan in the present day and owe over $50000.00 still. I had to live with my parents and watched my credit fall. It’s been 10 years of set backs. I couldn’t move out of my parents till I was in my late 20s. I had to switch out of the culinary arts field to afford rent and food, and am stuck renting due to my debt of the student loan. I have a wife, one kid, and one on the way. I am worried about this $50000.00 high interest loan from Sallie Mae now transferred to Naivent. To be able to try to stay from being threatened with law suits and horrible constant negative credit ,from not being able to afford the loan. I had to make an agreement for $474.00 a month a fixed loan till year 2033 in October. That’s well over $100000.00. This school had told me whatever and made promises to get me to sign. I as a 18 year old wanting to make something of myself got taken advantage of. It ruined my life. I cant find any help in this matter and am desperate for a solution. I’ve pretty much given up hope of any releif of this from being let down so much. This is my story I am shore I’m not alone…
Sure not shore
Wow. LCB must have really gone downhill. I graduated in 2002 from portland campus and before i even graduated i had a job catering for 18 an hour. After almost 14 years in the industry I am a sous chef at a great restaurant in Seattle. The skills learned at LCB were invaluable in my career. True, i could have avoided the debt and worked my way up from the bottom but having an LCB certification really opened up a lot of doors for me. If any of you believed that you would graduate into a high paying top position, then i suspect you are not quite in touch with reality. With any degree from any school, you have to bust ass to make it. Just a word of advice if anyone actually reads these comments and doesnt go straight to asking this site to help you get money, there have been no replies in the comment section from the site besides to tell you to click the link at the top to open a class action. I think i see why so many of you didnt make it.
I would like information on who to contact on the class action lawsuit against Le Cordon Bleu I attended the Le Cordon Bleu school in Austin Texas January 2008 and graduated with honors in January 2009. I was unable to find a job because experience got you in the door not my LCB training that I spent tons of money on. When I did finally get a job, I was paid $9.25 an hour for part-time work. I had to work several other jobs to pay bills. I has to give up on my dream because I had loans to pay and could not pay them working part-time for $9.25 an hour. Unfortunately it was too late as my wages are now garnished by the government.
I attended PCI in Pittsburgh from 2001-2002, the school was a total crock of BS from the start. All smoke and mirror tactics, and I didn’t learn anything at all, all skills taught were entry level skills, that you could have easily learned while working in a restaurant. I got fed up and left the school before graduation, but my wife graduated and she has never been able to get that amazing pastry chef job they promised, hell I had to join the Navy so I could pay off my student loans for a waste of time. That school ruined my passion for cooking.
Im in the same exact boat with the same school!