State of Connecticut Office of the Attorney General

01/10/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/10/2025 09:58

Attorney General Tong Announces $5 Million Preliminary Settlement With Stone Academy and Its Owners

Press Releases

01/10/2025

Attorney General Tong Announces $5 Million Preliminary Settlement With Stone Academy and Its Owners

Harmed Stone Students to Receive Cash Payments and New Training Opportunities

(Hartford, CT) - Attorney General William Tong announced today a $5 million preliminary settlement has been reached with Stone Academy and its owners to resolve claims filed by the State and former students involving unfair and deceptive conduct at the defunct for-profit nursing school.

Stone had promised an education that would position students to become Licensed Practical Nurses in less than two years, with hands-on training from industry leaders. Instead, they shuttered abruptly in February 2023, leaving student education plans in limbo and little to show for their investments in time and money. Stone lacked textbooks and experienced teachers, and did not deliver on promised and necessary clinical training. While students struggled with subpar materials in unheated classrooms, the State's investigation revealed that Stone took in millions of dollars in revenues and continued to enroll new students into its programs.

The proposed settlement would resolve all claims filed by the State arising from Stone Academy's misconduct, including those against Career Training Specialists LLC d/b/a Stone Academy, Paier College of Art, Inc., and Joseph Bierbaum, and all claims by the Ridenhour private class action against Stone Academy, Joseph Bierbaum, and Creative Career Trust, and against the State.

"Stone Academy unconscionably deprived its students of the education and opportunities they were promised. Those wasted hours and deferred dreams are impossible to fully recover. This preliminary settlement returns millions of dollars back to the students who were harmed, and provides new, legitimate opportunities for real training and career advancement. We will continue to work alongside Stone students to seek additional relief-including loan forgiveness and potential state aid-to provide every remedy possible," said Attorney General Tong.

Specific compensation to individual impacted students will be determined through the private class action process, subject to court approval. The State will not retain any of the $5 million, aside from $150,000 which will be used to help Stone students prepare for exit exams.

In addition to the $5 million cash payment, the settlement outlines a series of measures to assist impacted students in completing their education and professional exams, including remedial programs and the potential for students to complete their studies through Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers. The Department of Public Health will end licensure investigations based solely on a nurse's attendance at Stone Academy.

Further, Bierbaum will be barred from employment anywhere in higher education for five years. Should Stone Academy's former owners and officers seek to open, own or operate any other for-profit schools in Connecticut, they must notify the Office of the Attorney General.

In addition to the settlement relief, the Office of the Attorney General has petitioned the United States Department of Education to discharged student loan debt related to Stone Academy. The Office of the Attorney General intends to work with students in the class action to seek state legislation this session to enable additional reimbursements of out-of-pocket tuition costs incurred by Stone Academy students, as well as support to help former Stone students obtain careers in healthcare.

The terms of the preliminary settlement will be filed today in Hartford Superior Court and are subject to court approval. A hearing will then be scheduled for the judge to review and potentially approve the settlement.

The Attorney General was assisted in this matter by Assistant Attorneys General Joseph Gasser, Kate Hsu Hagmann-Borenstein, and Addison Keilty, Legal Investigator Caylee Silva, Paralegal Specialist Megan Kane and Deputy Associate Attorney General Michael Wertheimer, Chief of the Consumer Protection Section, and Alina Bricklin-Goldstein, Shawn Rutchick, Laura Thurston, and Deputy Associate Attorney General Dan Shapiro, Chief of the Health and Education Section. Twitter: @AGWilliamTong Facebook: CT Attorney General

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
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