Donald Trump verbally attacked San Diego District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel on the campaign trail, calling him a “hater” who was inclined to rule against him in the case because he is Hispanic. | Getty Former Trump U student threatens to undo settlement

A former Trump University student is objecting to the proposed $25 million settlement that would put to bed three years-long lawsuits over President Donald Trump’s defunct real estate education seminars.

Ex-student Sherri Simpson is objecting to the settlement because she wants an opportunity to opt out of it and sue Trump individually, her lawyers said in a filing on Monday, which Simpson cannot do under the proposed agreement. The proposed settlement struck last December is expected to pay refunds of about 50 cents on the dollar of what students paid to attend Trump University, which former students allege pushed them to pay up to $35,000 for real estate courses that taught them little from poorly qualified instructors.


“If the settlement indeed represents 50 cents on the dollar of loss, as has been reported, it is certainly a beneficial settlement by the standards of class actions. But there is no principle of law or fairness that requires Sherri Simpson to accept 50 cents on the dollar,” Simpson’s lawyer, Gary B. Friedman, wrote in the objection filed in San Diego District Court on Monday.

“What Ms. Simpson seeks is her day in court,” including pressing for “full damages plus punitive damages and injunctive relief,” Friedman wrote.

If San Diego District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel heeds the objection, it could delay the settlement or even call the deal into question. The settlement was quickly reached after Trump won the presidency in November. Up until then multiple lawsuits alleging Trump defrauded students with his Trump University courses had been slowly proceeding in court. Curiel has set a hearing on the fairness of the settlement for March 30.

The lawsuits became a flashpoint in the 2016 presidential campaign and Trump faced the possibility of having to stand trial as president of the United States. Trump verbally attacked Curiel on the campaign trail, calling him a “hater” who was inclined to rule against him in the case because he is Hispanic. The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for this story and the White House referred questions to the Trump Organization.

As part of the proposed settlement reached in December, former Trump University students could object to the terms of the agreement but didn’t have the right to “opt out,” or leave the class all-together.

A total of 13 other people have previously opted out of the class-action lawsuits and could still bring separate suits against Trump on their own. But due to statute-of-limitations rules, it’s unclear whether former Trump University students could still press their own lawsuits over the alleged fraud. Trump University essentially shut down in 2010.

Jason Forge of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, who is among the lawyers representing the class, said in a statement that the document sent to plaintiffs in November 2015 said “that if they decided to stay in the class, rather than pursue their claims individually, they would forever be giving up the right to pursue an individual claim against the defendants.”

“Any attempt to delay the payment of this settlement cannot be motivated by what is in the best interests of the class,” Forge added. “As promised, class members had the opportunity to exclude themselves from the settlement. Anyone who chose to submit a claim obviously wanted to be included — and for good reason.”

Simpson’s claims about being misled and scammed by Trump University instructors echo the complaints of other former students that grabbed the spotlight multiple times during Trump’s presidential campaign.

Simpson attended a three-day real estate seminar in April 2010 that cost $1,495 and expected to learn “secrets” of Trump’s real estate investment success and receive mentoring. At the end of the seminar, attendees were encouraged to increase their credit card limits, Simpson said, and she purchased another Trump University program.

But “none of the promised resources were made available,” Simpson said in a signed statement, and the mentor assigned to help her learn how to buy and sell real estate soon disappeared.

The last time plaintiffs were given an opportunity to opt out of the lawsuit in November 2015, “the case was barreling towards trial, by all accounts,” Friedman wrote. “The plaintiffs’ lawyers were obtaining excellent results,” and plaintiffs like Simpson assumed they’d get another opportunity to opt out of the class again, which they didn’t.

Simpson is the second former Trump University student to lodge a recent complaint with the settlement. Last week another former student, Harold Doe, wrote the court to complain about the amount of money he anticipated receiving out of the settlement. He said he is submitting a claim for $35,000, but that he believes he should be compensated for three times that amount.

“I was homeless with my family because of Trump and Trump University,” Doe wrote in the letter. “Although I’m submitting a claim for thirty-five thousand dollars I spent on that so-called class I would appreciate being awarded the three times that amount, for the suffering that my family and I had to endure, as a direct result of Trump and Trump University.”

