Press Releases
02/27/2025
Attorney General Tong Statement Regarding Court Approval of $5 Million Settlement with Stone Academy and its Owners
Harmed Stone Students to Receive Cash Payments and New Training Opportunities
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong released a statement today following court approval of the $5 million settlement with Stone Academy and its owners to resolve claims filed by the State and former students involving unfair and deceptive conduct at the defunct for-profit nursing school.“Stone Academy was a rip-off. Today, its leaders are being held accountable, and its students will see millions of dollars in compensation for the time and money they invested in an education they never received. We remain committed to the Stone students, and will continue to support them in seeking additional relief—including loan forgiveness, potential state aid, and new training—to provide every remedy possible,” said Attorney General Tong.
The settlement resolves all claims filed by the State arising from Stone Academy’s misconduct, including those against Career Training Specialists LLC d/b/a Stone Academy, Paier College of Art, Inc., and Joseph Bierbaum, and all claims by the Ridenhour private class action against Stone Academy, Joseph Bierbaum, and Creative Career Trust, and against the State.
Specific compensation to individual impacted students will be determined through the private class action process. The State will not retain any of the $5 million, aside from $150,000 which will be used to help Stone students prepare for exit exams.
More information on the claims process for impacted students can be found here: Home - Ridenhour v. Stone Academy.
Stone had promised an education that would position students to become Licensed Practical Nurses in less than two years, with hands-on training from industry leaders. Instead, they shuttered abruptly in February 2023, leaving student education plans in limbo and little to show for their investments in time and money. Stone lacked textbooks and experienced teachers, and did not deliver on promised and necessary clinical training. While students struggled with subpar materials in unheated classrooms, the State’s investigation revealed that Stone took in millions of dollars in revenues and continued to enroll new students into its programs.
In addition to the $5 million cash payment, the settlement outlines a series of measures to assist impacted students in completing their education and professional exams, including remedial programs and the potential for students to complete their studies through Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers. The Department of Public Health will end licensure investigations based solely on a nurse’s attendance at Stone Academy.
Further, Bierbaum will be barred from employment anywhere in higher education for five years. Should Stone Academy’s former owners and officers seek to open, own or operate any other for-profit schools in Connecticut, they must notify the Office of the Attorney General.
In addition to the settlement relief, the Office of the Attorney General has petitioned the United States Department of Education to discharge student loan debt related to Stone Academy. The Office of the Attorney General is working with students and their counsel in the class action to seek state legislation this session to enable additional reimbursements of out-of-pocket tuition costs incurred by Stone Academy students, as well as support to help former Stone students obtain careers in healthcare.
The Attorney General was assisted in this matter by Assistant Attorneys General Joseph Gasser, Kate Hsu Hagmann-Borenstein, and Addison Keilty, Legal Investigator Caylee Silva, Paralegal Specialist Megan Kane and Deputy Associate Attorney General Michael Wertheimer, Chief of the Consumer Protection Section, and Alina Bricklin-Goldstein, Shawn Rutchick, Laura Thurston, and Deputy Associate Attorney General Dan Shapiro, Chief of the Health and Education Section.
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
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