Irate mom sues parents accused in college admissions scam for $500B
- A California mom has filed a $500 billion lawsuit against parents alleged to have been involved in the college admissions scheme
- The plaintiff says her son was wrongly denied admission to some of the colleges targeted by the scam
- Another lawsuit also says students were denied a fair chance to get into the colleges and is asking for application fee refunds
A woman who describes herself as an award-winning teacher is suing actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, as well as the other parents indicted in the college admissions scam, claiming damages of $500 billion. She alleges their actions deprived her son of a fair chance of acceptance at the elite colleges targeted in the scheme.
The lawsuit, reported earlier by Deadline.com, names the parents who were involved in the college admissions scam. The scheme involved dozens of wealthy individuals, including Bill McGlashan, formerly the CEO of a "social-impact" investment fund managed by private equity firm TPG, and Manuel Henriquez, who led financial firm Hercules Capital. Both McGlashan and Henriquez have been ousted from their positions following the scandal.
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The parents allegedly paid up to millions of dollars to guarantee their children entry into elite schools such as Yale and Georgetown, relying on bribery and cheating on standardized tests to gain entry into the competitive colleges.
Jennifer Kay Toy, a teacher who said she had been given "teacher of the year" awards while employed in the Oakland Unified School District and Pacifica Academy, said in the lawsuit that her son earned a 4.2 grade point average and applied to some of the colleges targeted by the scam.
Her son, Joshua, "did not make the cut for some undisclosed reason," she wrote in the lawsuit. "I'm now outraged and hurt because I feel that my son, my only child, was denied access to a college not because he failed to work and study hard enough but because wealthy individuals felt that it was ok to lie, cheat, steal and bribe their children's way into a good college."
It's at least the second lawsuit filed in response to the federal charges, with a group of students and their parents also filing a complaint this week against the University of Southern California, Yale University and other colleges involved in the scheme. Plaintiffs in that suit say students were denied a fair opportunity for admission due to the bribery and exam-fixing scandal, and are asking that students who paid an application fee to these colleges receive a refund.
