Former students sue shuttered Star Career Academy
BRICK – A for-profit career academy in Brick took in tens of thousands of dollars in fees but delivered only "empty promises," had students watch movies and television shows rather than prepare them for work, and failed to intervene when an instructor repeatedly sexually harassed them, former students allege in a lawsuit.
The lawsuit by five Jersey Shore women, filed in Superior Court in Camden County, claims the Star Career Academy and three staff members also misrepresented their earning potential and the curriculum they were supposed to receive, which was supposed to prepare students for jobs as surgical technicians.
Instead, "classes often consisted of watching movies and television shows such as 'The Hunger Games' or involved field trips to places that had nothing to do with the curriculum," according to the lawsuit.
The Star Career Academy, which had a campus in Brick, closed suddenly in November. Its leadership blamed "the negative financial impact of a continued declining student population while operating in the challenging for-profit post-secondary school industry," according to a statement posted to the academy's website at the time of its closure.
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The women said in the complaint that they were sexually harassed by their instructor, Vincent Guarnieri, who allegedly leered at their bodies during class, "inappropriately" touched and caressed them and made unwanted sexual advances and comments.
Guarnieri also used female students as medical mannequins and fondled them while demonstrating breast biopsies, and humiliated female students by discussing sex and commenting on their physical appearance and clothing, according to the claims. It was not immediately clear if Guarnieri was represented by an attorney. He could not be reached for comment.
According to the complaint, plaintiff Deirdre O'Connell of Point Pleasant incurred $21,000 in student loan debt while Star Career Academy's enroller inflated the demand for novice technicians and the expected starting pay rates by more than $10 an hour.
Four other Jersey Shore plaintiffs – Chrisanne Wenc of the Whiting section of Manchester; Collete Erb of Beachwood; Annalis Kincaid of Toms River; and Tanaya Brown of Neptune – also said they received information that inflated starting wages. Each allegedly incurred $21,000 in student loan debt to attend the academy, according to the lawsuit.
In 2015, a Camden County court ordered Star Career Academy pay $9.2 million to more than 1,000 current and former students, saying the academy's surgical technology program misrepresented facts about its accreditation, according to a Star Ledger report. The court ruled in favor of the students, finding that the academy's commercial practices violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act.
Throughout the class, Guarnieri allegedly fondled the women during a demonstration on patient draping, at one point said "I love drugs" during a lecture on surgical pharmacology, and left the students unprepared for their externships.
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The lawsuit also claims Guarnieri retaliated against students who complained about his conduct or participated in an investigation into his conduct — by using an arbitrary grading system to punish them. The instructor allegedly assigned failing grades to Erb, who was undergoing cancer treatment, and a fellow male student who accompanied her to a medical test.
The lawsuit names two Star Career Academy administrators as defendants, former Chief Executive Officer Sandi Gibson and former President Dennis Mascale, alleging they failed to act when a student complained about Guarnieri's behavior.
"To be duped into paying for a sham education while simultaneously being subjected to sexual harassment, as alleged here, is truly appalling," the plaintiffs' attorney, Matthew A. Luber of the firm McOmber & McOmber of Marlton, said in an email.
Luber said the women were seeking full reimbursement of tuition, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.
It was not immediately clear if the Star Career Academy or its former staff members have legal representation. None of the defendants could immediately be reached for comment.
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Amanda Oglesby: 732-557-5701; aoglesby@GannettNJ.com