Education Corporation of America Facing Class Action From Former Employees After Abrupt School Closures

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Education Corporation of America (ECA) has been named in another proposed class action filed by former employees in the wake of the for-profit college chain’s abrupt closing of dozens of schools. The five named plaintiffs in the case, who worked at several ECA campuses across the nation, claim they were not given proper notice of the closure and are owed lost wages and benefits.

Also filed against Brightwood Career Institute, Brightwood College, Ecotech Institute, Golf Academy of America, and Virginia College, the lawsuit states that between 150 and 350 of the defendants’ employees were abruptly laid off on or around December 5, 2018, as part of a mass closure of schools run by ECA. The plaintiffs argue that the mass layoff was “reasonably foreseeable” and met the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act’s definition of a “plant closing” for which employees should have been provided 60 days’ advance written notice.

The 10-page lawsuit, filed in Delaware on December 7, demands that former employees who were laid off without cause by the college chain be paid 60 days’ worth of lost wages and benefits, including bonuses, accrued vacation pay, and pension and 401(k) contributions.

The full complaint can be read below.