Everything you need to know about the Trump University lawsuit

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard something about Trump University, and about the lawsuit that’s been dominating news-cycles across the country. You might have heard something about a judge and some racist comments, but chances are you might not know the full story. To keep you informed as we head into the general election with Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee, here’s what we know:

What happened?

In 2004, current Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump started the for-profit Trump University (later renamed The Trump Entrepreneur Initiative) along with business buddies Michael Sexton and Jonathan Spitalny, with Trump owning 93% of the company’s shares. For fees ranging from $1,500 to $35,000, you could take courses at Trump U in real estate, asset management, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation, with online and in-person courses that focused on real estate investing. Trump made a ton of money and students gave the program a 98% approval rating. Win-win, right?

So what’s the problem?

Here’s the thing: Trump University was never an accredited college. Because of this, people spent thousands of dollars on courses from the program that didn’t transfer as college credit, and essentially didn’t get them anywhere. Many former students also claim that they didn’t get what they paid for in terms of the quality of instruction and benefits of the program. Oh, and that favorable rating by students? Former students say they were pressured by Trump University employees into giving the program good reviews, even threatened with withholding of graduation certificates.

Even worse, the program’s former employees are some of its harshest critics, with one testifying that Trump University was “a fraudulent scheme” that “preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.” The Washington Post also recently got hold of employee “playbooks” which many say advertised predatory and manipulative business practices including persuading people to go into debt to pay for further courses.  All in all, the program was shady, with a lot of false advertising and misleading information, leading to many calling out what they believe to be illegal business practices. This has lead to three ongoing lawsuits: New York v. Trump Entrepreneur Initiative LLC, Low v. Trump University LLC, and Cohen v. Trump.

New York v. Trump Entrepreneur Initiative LLC

In 2005, the New York State Department of Education sent out letters to Trump and friends saying they’d violated state law by calling the program a ‘university,’ when it wasn’t licensed as an educational institution. They changed their name to The Trump Entrepreneur Initiative and promised to stop teaching students in New York, but the Attorney General Eric Schniederman claims the program continued on. He filed a $40 million class action suit in 2013, alleging illegal business practices  that persuaded over 5,000 people to “spend money they didn’t have on classes they never got.” Schniederman’s biggest beef was with advertisements Trump appeared in, in which he allegedly made false claims, like that he would be hand picking each course’s instructors.

In response, Trump’s lawyers denied the allegations and claimed that Schniederman was politically motivated, seeking revenge after the Republican nominee denied his request for campaign funding. The investigation is still ongoing, but Trump has already been found liable for operating the school without a license by New York State Supreme Court Justice Cynthia S. Kern, and has been ordered to pay damages.

Low v. Trump University LLC

A woman named Tarla Makaeff was one of Trump University’s 5,000 students, paying almost $60,000 to attend in 2008. She brought up a class action suit against the program in 2010, seeking damages for breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and bad faith, and refunds on the money she and others paid to Trump University.

Makaeff claimed that she was sold a “‘1-year apprenticeship'” which turned out to be “just a 3-day seminar” which “consisted of no practical insights and no mentorship, but rather excursions to the Home Depot and ‘mentors’ who either recommended real estate deals that they stood to benefit from financially, or quickly disappeared and failed to return calls,” and that Trump University employees talked her into raising her credit card limits to sign up for the $35,000 Gold Program, falsely telling Makaeff she would make the money back after her first real estate deal.

Makaeff has so far been reimbursed for legal fees after having to defend herself in Trump University’s counter defamation suit, and withdrew as the lead plaintiff in March. She’s been replaced by Sonny Low, with US District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel presiding over the case.

Cohen v. Trump

Art Cohen, a businessman from California, filed a suit against Donald Trump in 2013 as a class action case seeking restitution and damages for consumers who had purchased “live events”–such as mentorships and seminars–from Trump University, alleging violations of the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act. He accused Trump of misrepresenting the program and “delivering neither Trump nor a university.” The case is scheduled for argument on November 28, 2016, with Curiel presiding over it, as well.

Why do we care?

Even though Trump University was closed in 2010, some of the lawsuits have only recently begun proceedings, and they’ve been getting a lot of press coverage because of Donald Trump’s decision to run for president and subsequent victory in the race for the Republican nomination. In particular, Trump recently attacked Judge Curiel, calling him a “Mexican” (Curiel was born in the US to Mexican parents), and pressuring Curiel to recuse himself over a possible conflict of interest because of the Republican nominee’s desire to build a wall along the US-Mexican border.

In response, many politicians have dismissed Trump’s comments as “racist” and “inexcusable,” including those in his own party, like Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, and Marco Rubio. On his side, Trump has claimed he is being treated unfairly, while his lawyers say they won’t ask Curiel to step aside for the trial.

What’s next?

All of these cases are ongoing, and we’ll continue to see Trump battling it out in court throughout the summer and fall, which may hurt the Trump campaign, especially as news outlets continue to pick up the story and shed more light onto what really happened at Trump University between 2004 and 2010.