CHARLESTON -- Eight more cases were filed against Mountain State University for failing to inform students about its accreditation issues.
The Mountain State University Board of Trustees was also named as defendants in the suit.
Elaine Williams, Nicole Browning, Tammy Rogers, April Harvey, JoDonna Fitzwater, Kathy Whitney, Rhonda Hobson and Ginger Short were students at MSU and were enrolled in the university's Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, according to eight complaints filed Aug. 1 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
The plaintiffs claim when they were admitted to the program, they were informed that the program was accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission and the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses, but later the NLNAC and the WVBRN pulled the university's full accreditation status.
In 2008, the NLNAC voted to place the nursing program on warning and scheduled the next evaluation visit for spring 2010, according to the suits, but after the spring 2010 visit, the commission voted to deny continuing accreditation to the program.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants failed to inform them of the accreditation denial and encouraged them to continue paying for and participating in the program.
The defendants were negligent in keeping the students informed and breached their contract with them by failing to provide the education opportunity promised, according to the suits.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. They are being represented by Robert B. Warner and Tammy Bowles Raines.
The cases have been assigned to Circuit Judges Paul Zakaib Jr., Tod J. Kaufman, Carrie Webster and Charles E. King.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-1536, 12-C-1537, 12-C-1538, 12-C-1539, 12-C-1540, 12-C-1541, 12-C-1542, 12-C-1543
