Carrington College

Additional Notes

Complaint: My name is ***** and I was attending Carrington College since December, I was a B student with perfect attendance for all but 1 month and I was working at the school as part of the work study program, and about 2 month ago I reported my instructor for inappropriate sexual contact and discrimination. I gave the names of several witnesses. Shortly after the administration began attacking every move I make. Then I caught on camera the Dean and another instructor in the parking lot aiming rifles at the school. So I reported that also and I was suspended the next day because they said that I had violated the code of conduct and that it would take 30 days to investigate. i asked what I had done and was told that they don't have any info yet.While I was suspended I was to have no contact with the school or any of its students. Shortly a friend from school called me to ask what happend to me and I told her I was suspended, This same person called me later and she told me that she had mentioned it to another student and she was pulled aside by the instructor that I had reported and she was told that if she helped me in any way that she would suffer the consequences.3 weeks after I was suspended, and after I had called to main office close to a dozen times to find out what I was accused of, I was told that I was being accused of sexually harassing students, I denied these accusations. But today I received an email with letters attached saying that I am expelled and that they found no grounds for my claims against the instructor.So now I'm unemployed and stuck with $15,000 in student loans and nothing to show for it. I need your help.

Desired Settlement: I would like to have my loans refunded because I received nothing for my money, I can't get a job without my certificate and the credits do not transfer.

Business Response: CARRINGTON
July 13,2012
Re: ***** ******* - Student Code of Conduct Charges Dear Mr. *******,
Recently it was brought to our attention that a possible violation of the Student Code of Conduct may have occurred. This report refers to recent interactions with your instructors and fellow classmates in the Medical Assisting Program at the Spokane campus.
As outlined in the 2011-2012 Student Code of Conduct Policy, the following misconduct was investigated:

Impropriety of a sexual nature, including sexual harassment
Violent, threatening, disorderly, disruptive, or offensive behavior or language
Behavior that indicates the student is unwilling or unable to act in a professional manner
An investigation was conducted and members of Carrington’s leadership met to discuss your statements and the evidence of the charges in reference to your case.
As a result of this investigation and meeting, you are being permanently dismissed from Carrington College, effective immediately. You are not allowed on any Carrington campus or premises or allowed to enroll in any DeVry Inc. institution.
For more information on the Student Code of Conduct Policy, please refer to the 2012-2013 Carrington Student Handbook accessible at: www.carrington.edu.
Your point of contact for any financial questions will be **** *******, Director of Student Finance at********@,carrington.edu or ###-###-####.
Sincerely,
***** ****** Executive Director
Carrington College - Spokane Campus

01:34:34p.m. 08-24-2012
Exhibit A
CARRINGTON
COLLEGE"*
July 13, 2012 Re: ***** ******* Dear Mr, *******,
In response to the concerns you have expressed to Carrington College* we have completed a review of your concerns. Set forth below is an explanation of our findings in the context of the concerns you have expressed.
I. Your Concerns
Your complaint alleges that:
1) Your instructor showed favoritism to other students in your Medical Assisting class.
2) You were not provided ADA accommodations for your dyslexia.
3) Your instructor was physically inappropriate towards you.
II Instructor showing favoritism
Based on the findings of the investigation there is no evidence to support such allegations. Documentation does indicate you were allowed to make-up lab work as needed and have obtained an overall GPA of 2.66.
III. ADA  Accommodations
Carrington College believes in and values diversity and inciusiveness among its students and honors this belief with respect and flexibility towards them, Carrington College complies with the provisions of the American Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, The record reflects you initially reported being dyslexic to your Medical Assisting instructor who advised you to obtain medical documentation and to speak with the Program Director to request special accommodations. On June 7, 2012 the Student Services Consultant (SSC) /Accommodations Coordinator (AC), ******* ******* met with you to review Carrington’s policy and process for requesting accommodations. However, during this meeting you had declined needing accommodations. Based on the findings of the investigation it has been
determined no violation has occurred due to no request was made for an accommodation. Set forth below for your convenience is a quote from our ADA policy, contained in the Student Handbook.
If a student needs an accommodation, he or she should notify the Student Services Consultant and/or designee at his or her location, or his or her instructor, or Dean, who will relay the request to the Student Services Consultant and/or designee. The student will be asked to complete an accommodation request form specifying his or her needs and the requested accommodation. The student will also be asked to provide certification and/or documentation from a healthcare or educational professional supporting the need for an accommodation.
Instructor Harassment
Carrington College takes this matter very seriously. A thorough investigation was conducted, which included statements from students as well as staff. In the end, no evidence was found to support the allegation of instructor harassment.
Based on the above information, we have completed a thorough investigation to the allegations noted above and find the above matters to be closed.
Sincerely,
***** ****** Executive Director
Carrington College - Spokane Campus

Consumer Response:
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9126166, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Mr. ******,
 
I recently received information from you regarding the response from Carrington college and I would like to say that their response is false and i feel I am still due a refund for the following reasons

First of all they breached the contract first by failing to provide a safe learning environments as outlined in the contract when the dean and one of the instructors violated the code of conduct by bringing rifles and shotguns to the school as you can see in the picture below
 

Regards,

***** *******

Business Response: August 24, 2012 Complaint case # 9126166
Please consider this Carrington College's response to Mr. *******'s concerns:
Mr. *******'s stated concerns pertain to his dismissal from Carrington Coliege.
Outline of Concerns
Set forth below are select quotes from Mr. *******'s complaint to your agency that, we believe, summarize his concerns.
1) Mr, ******* “reported his instructor for inappropriate sexual contact and discrimination to his local campus administration, but his campus administration advised him that his claims were unfounded."
2) Mr. ******* “believed the school retaliated against him after he made reports of employee misconduct,”
3) He was “suspended for a code of conduct violation, pending an investigation and was informed of the charges after he had been suspended.”
4) He was “expelled from Carrington and not allowed to appeal his expulsion.”
I. Inappropriate Instructor Conduct
In June 2012, Carrington College administration conducted an extensive investigation into the allegations of misconduct that Mr. ******* made against his instructor (hereafter, the Carrington Instructor). Based on the results of the investigation, there were no findings to substantiate Mr. *******'s claims. Ultimately, based on the circumstances, including numerous other accounts of improprieties by Mr. ******* against other students, Carrington College investigators concluded that the Carrington College instructor’s allegations and her accounts were more credible. A copy of the July 13, 2012 letter sent to Mr. ******* notifying him of the results of the findings of the investigation is attached to this response. (Exhibit A)
H. Retaliation
Mr. ******* asserts that that Carrington College’s actions were retaliatory in response to reports he had made of employee misconduct. It is not our policy to discuss human resources matters. Nonetheless, we confirm that Mr, *******’s reported misconduct was taken very seriously and that prompt and appropriate action was taken by our Human Resources personnel. Allegations regarding Mr, *******’s behavior arose prior to his report of alleged misconduct and were separately investigated by Carrington College’s Director of Student Services, who had no personal, professional or organizational ties to the persons implicated by Mr, *******'s report. Based on the lack of these relationships between our investigator and those implicated by Mr. *******’s reported misconduct, we believe that Mr. *******’s disciplinary investigation was conducted on a fair and impartial basis.

III, Code of Conduct
Carrington College received numerous complaints about Mr. *******s behavior, which involved statements, emails and innuendo of a sexual nature to students and faculty. Due to the severity of the allegations against Mr. *******, and deep concerns by students and faculty about their safety and security, Carrington College placed Mr. ******* on immediate interim suspension while it investigated the allegations made against Mr. *******.
During Mr, *******'s suspension, Carrington College administration conducted an extensive investigation into the allegations of misconduct and code of conduct violations committed by Mr. *******. Based on the results of that investigation, Carrington found that student and faculty reports alleging sexual harassment and other misconduct were substantiated and that, due to the nature and gravity of the code of conduct violations, Mr. ******* was permanently dismissed from Carrington College. A copy of the dismissal letter dated July 13, 2012 is attached to this response. (Exhibit B).
IV. Appeal
In an email dated July 17, 2012, Carrington responded to Mr. *******’s request for an appeal of his dismissal. Carrington advised Mr, ******* that two full investigations were conducted; one addressed his concerns regarding his Medical Assisting instructor and the other to determine if Mr. ******* violated the college's Code of Conduct policy. In terms of his concern regarding his instructor, Carrington found no evidence to substantiate his claims. Based on several reports, the school found him in violation of the schools Code of Conduct. Carrington College administration determined that due to the gravity of the allegations, entailing a threat to the physical and emotional security of students and faculty, their decision to expel Mr. ******* was final and non-appealabie.
Summary
As stated in the Carrington College academic catalog:
Students who obtain loans are responsible for full repayment of those loans. The loans must be repaid even if students do not complete their educational program.
Because Mr. ******* was permanently dismissed from Carrington College and did not
complete his educational program, Carrington College is unable to honor Mr, *******'s
request to refund all of his student loans.
Sincerely,
***** ******
Senior Associate, Office of Ombudsman DeVry, Inc.


September 4, 2012 Complaint case # 9126166
Please consider this Carrington College’s rebuttal response to Mr. *******’s concerns: Mr. *******’s stated concerns pertain to his dismissal from Carrington College.
Outline of Concerns
Set forth below is a select quote from Mr. *******’s rebuttal complaint to your agency that, we believe, summarizes his concerns

Mr. ******* "believes he is entitled to a refund of his tuition because Carrington failed to provide a safe learning environment as outlined in the contract when two individuals violated the code of conduct by bringing firearms to the school,"
As stated in the prior response to the Better Business Bureau on August 24, 2012,
Mr. *******'s reporting of employee misconduct that occurred at the Spokane campus was taken very seriously. The matter was fully investigated and appropriate action was taken by our Human Resources personnel
Based on the above, no further consideration of Mr. *******’s request for a tuition refund is warranted. DeVry considers the matter closed.
Sincerely,
***** ******
Senior Associate, Office of Ombudsman DeVry, Inc.

Consumer Response:
Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9126166, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I have reviewed the response from Carrington College and I am not satisfied with their response. They don’t seem willing to address any of my concerns or complaints. Which leads me to believe, that they are hiding the truth.  
They breached the legally binding contract and violated my constitutionally protected civil rights. And they think that I will just let it go. No I will not.
Please let me know what the next step is.
Thank you
***** *******



Regards,

***** *******

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.