This Monday, a Minnesota appellate court panel upheld a jury's verdict ordering Globe University to pay $395,000 in compensatory damages to Heidi Weber, a former academic department head for the university. Weber sued the school after she was terminated in retaliation for raising concerns about about deceptive practices by the school including providing prospective students with inaccurate information about transferability of credits and inflating job placement numbers.
Clayton Halunen, Weber's attorney, stated, "Obviously, we are very pleased with the results on appeal. Our client has been vindicated and that is what's important."
Globe University operates 19 campuses and is part of the Globe Education Network (GEN), a group of almost 30 family-owned and managed for-profit colleges. For the past several years, Globe University and other GEN schools have been plagued by similar allegations of deception. Such allegations have noticeably taken a toll on enrollment at Globe University/MSB as well as Broadview University. Since 2010, both schools have watched enrollment plummet and in June, Globe/MSB was also forced to close their Shakopee, Minnesota campus due to such low enrollment.
It will be interesting to see if Globe University will file an appeal with the Minnesota Supreme Court. Only time will tell.