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Cases

Lambda School / Bloom Institute of Technology Class Action

Fuller, et al. v. Bloom Institute of Technology, formerly d/b/a Lambda School, et al., 3:23-cv-01440-AGT (N.D. Cal.)

Bloom Institute of Technology, formerly Lambda School, is a for-profit, unaccredited computer coding bootcamp that opened in 2017. Since its inception, Lambda has marketed itself as a no-money-down path to a high-paying tech job. Instead of traditional tuition, students sign Income Share Agreements (ISAs) or similar tuition payment plans for up to $30,000 in future earnings. And as proof that its students succeed, Lambda has advertised lofty job placement rates ranging from 74 to 90 percent.

In reality, Lambda privately revealed that its true job placement rates have ranged between just 27 and 50 percent. Lambda also misrepresented that it had state approval to operate when, in fact, it did not. Through these misrepresentations, Lambda enrolled thousands of students, saddling each with up to $30,000 in ISA or similar tuition plan repayment obligations.

Now the students are fighting back. On March 16, 2023, Student Defense, along with co-counsel Miner, Barnhill, & Galland and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, filed a class-action lawsuit against Lambda, and its CEO, Austen Allred, on behalf of a putative class of thousands, alleging that Lambda violated multiple California consumer protection laws by misrepresenting job placement rates and operating without state approval. The students seek cancelation of their ISAs or similar tuition payment plans, restitution for payments on those plans, and an order for Lambda to discontinue misrepresenting job placement rates.

“For years, Lambda knowingly seduced the public with inflated job placement rates even though internal records made clear the actual rates were substantially lower,” said Student Defense Vice President Alex Elson. “The time has come to hold the school and its executives accountable, so that the thousands of students they deceived can receive full restitution and move on with their lives.” 

UPDATE: In early 2024, Magistrate Judge Alex Tse of the Northern District of California issued a ruling granting Defendants' request for arbitration and dismissing the class action. As a result of this ruling, the Fuller class action lawsuit described above is no longer going forward. 

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