HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.- LAWFUEL – Law News, Law Jobs–American InterContinental University Online (AIU Online) announced today that on October 2, 2006, Illinois Chancery Court Judge Thomas Quinn ruled that AIU Online had properly paid the plaintiffs, three former admissions advisors, all of the compensation, including overtime, to which they were entitled. After a nine-day bench trial and extensive briefing of the facts and the law, the court found that the plaintiffs had failed to prove even a single one of their allegations against the university.
“The record is replete with references to overtime work being reported to and approved by defendant,” the court found. Not only had plaintiffs failed to prove that the university had in any way violated the law, but in fact, the court found, the university’s overtime practices were “sound business policy.” Judge Quinn also noted that AIU Online maintained a general practice of compensating its hourly employees that was even more generous than the law required.
In June of last year, Judge Quinn denied the plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class action. A similar overtime action is pending in federal court.
“We are gratified that the court’s final determination has vindicated both AIU Online’s policy and the AIU Online managers who applied it,” said Eric Israel, senior vice president and general counsel for Career Education Corporation’s University Group.
“AIU Online remains committed to ensuring that it provides an outstanding environment for its students to learn, faculty to teach, staff to work, and for all of these stakeholders to continue to grow and develop their careers,” added Dr. Alan Drimmer, President of AIU Online.
About AIU Online
AIU Online is the web-based virtual campus of American InterContinental University, an international university with residential campuses located in Atlanta, Georgia; Los Angeles, California; South Florida; Houston, Texas; London, England; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (The American University in Dubai). For more information, see www.aiuonline.edu.
About Career Education Corporation
The colleges, schools and universities that are part of the Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ:CECO) family offer high quality education to more than 85,000 students across the world in a variety of career-oriented disciplines. The 80-plus campuses that serve these students are located throughout the U. S., Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates and offer doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s, and associate degrees and diploma and certificate programs. The mission of CEC, through its schools, its educators, and its employees is education—their primary goal, to enable students to graduate successfully and pursue rewarding careers. For more information, see www.careered.com.
