Statement From Globe University in Response to CBS Report About Whistleblower Heidi Weber and Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson's Lawsuits Against Globe
Company acknowledges that Heidi Weber was fired, in part, for making a good faith report of wrongdoing, but holds firm that the jury did not find that the schools had actually engaged in said wrongdoing.
Posted on Aug 31, 2018 | 06:00pm
CBS News interviewed former academic dean Heidi Weber, who worked for Globe University from 2008 to 2011. She says Globe admissions reps engaged in hard-sell tactics that took advantage of unsuspecting students who were eligible for tens of millions of dollars in government grants and loans.
She found these practices to be highly unethical and when she complained about it to her superiors, she says they initially ignored her concerns, and ultimately, they fired her.
In response to CBS News' request for an interview, we received the following statement from Globe University and Minnesota School of Business:
"Globe University and Minnesota School of Business operated for 140 years, serving tens of thousands of students in more than 30 programs. The Schools enjoyed good relationships with state and federal regulators until 2014 when the Minnesota Attorney General sued them, without warning, for fraud. The Minnesota District Court found no fraud in the Schools' operations with the exception of one program—the criminal justice program, which the Schools operated for only six of their 140 years. Nonetheless, the Minnesota Attorney General seized on the opportunity to shutter a long-standing Minnesota business to achieve what the Attorney General viewed as a political victory, harming tens of thousands of alumni, students, and employees in the process. The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently reversed the order for restitution in connection with the criminal justice program and the case continues in litigation. As such, the Schools decline to comment substantively about that lawsuit.
The Attorney General's lawsuit against Globe University and Minnesota School of Business, however, had nothing to do with Heidi Weber's lawsuit which was initiated a number of years earlier. Ms. Weber did not report anything related to the criminal justice program. As importantly, the jury in that case found that Ms. Weber was fired, in part, for making a good faith report of wrongdoing. The jury did not find that what Ms. Weber reported as wrongdoing was accurate or that the Schools had engaged in that wrongdoing. Ms. Weber's lawsuit was tried in 2013 and concluded in 2014 - more than a year prior to the trial in the Attorney General's lawsuit. Conflating Ms. Weber's lawsuit and the Attorney General's lawsuit is misleading. The two lawsuits are completely separate. Ms. Weber's lawsuit did not contribute to or result in the closing of Globe University or Minnesota School of Business. Any suggestion that it did is false."
Stream Whistleblower on CBS All Access.
She found these practices to be highly unethical and when she complained about it to her superiors, she says they initially ignored her concerns, and ultimately, they fired her.
In response to CBS News' request for an interview, we received the following statement from Globe University and Minnesota School of Business:
"Globe University and Minnesota School of Business operated for 140 years, serving tens of thousands of students in more than 30 programs. The Schools enjoyed good relationships with state and federal regulators until 2014 when the Minnesota Attorney General sued them, without warning, for fraud. The Minnesota District Court found no fraud in the Schools' operations with the exception of one program—the criminal justice program, which the Schools operated for only six of their 140 years. Nonetheless, the Minnesota Attorney General seized on the opportunity to shutter a long-standing Minnesota business to achieve what the Attorney General viewed as a political victory, harming tens of thousands of alumni, students, and employees in the process. The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently reversed the order for restitution in connection with the criminal justice program and the case continues in litigation. As such, the Schools decline to comment substantively about that lawsuit.
The Attorney General's lawsuit against Globe University and Minnesota School of Business, however, had nothing to do with Heidi Weber's lawsuit which was initiated a number of years earlier. Ms. Weber did not report anything related to the criminal justice program. As importantly, the jury in that case found that Ms. Weber was fired, in part, for making a good faith report of wrongdoing. The jury did not find that what Ms. Weber reported as wrongdoing was accurate or that the Schools had engaged in that wrongdoing. Ms. Weber's lawsuit was tried in 2013 and concluded in 2014 - more than a year prior to the trial in the Attorney General's lawsuit. Conflating Ms. Weber's lawsuit and the Attorney General's lawsuit is misleading. The two lawsuits are completely separate. Ms. Weber's lawsuit did not contribute to or result in the closing of Globe University or Minnesota School of Business. Any suggestion that it did is false."
Stream Whistleblower on CBS All Access.