The president and co-owner of a Connecticut nursing program that was shut down in February testified Oct. 16 in a class-action lawsuit filed by eight former Stone Academy students.
Joseph Bierbaum confirmed having a 25% stake in Stone Academy, according to NBC affiliate WVIT. He also refuted that warnings from the state "did not provide us with any depth as to what actually was going to need to be fixed because there was no follow up, we didn’t have the luxury of the information that you showed earlier from the Department of Public Health, and at that point, they were asking for an audit on items where they didn’t even identify the depth of what they were," he said in court.
The students are seeking $10.35 million plus interest and attorneys' fees. Their complaint spans 36 pages and cites multiple issues including that "Up until its last date of operation Stone Academy passed itself off as a reputable, viable and well established nursing school, all the while disregarding the instructions and warnings of State regulators concerning its substandard programs," the complaint reads.