In the wake of the allegedcollege admission cheating scam, parents from around the country are outraged — and wondering if their kids were wrongfully denied a spot in selective colleges in favor of those accused of cheating their way in.
Toy alleges she raised her son, Joshua, with a good work ethic, and made various sacrifices over the years to ensure he would get into a good college. She claims he had a 4.2 GPA upon graduating high school and applied to “some” of the colleges involved in the scandal — which include Yale, USC, Georgetown and Wake Forest — but did not get accepted. She filed a class-action suit on March 13, accusing the defendants of inflicting emotional distress, civil conspiracy and fraud.
But a legal expert who wrote a book about college admissions thinks the lawsuit is “ridiculous” — and may not go far.
“As an attorney, I wouldn’t take these cases,” says Steve Cohen, a partner atPollock Cohenin New York City.
“Remember, these schools are trying to put together a well-rounded class,” Cohen continues. “There are going to be a certain number of athletes for each team, a certain number of people from each club, and a certain number of people for each academic major.”
Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage; Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
Cohen sympathizes with Toy. “What these people did was horrible,” he tells PEOPLE. “It was greed. It was entitlement. It was definitely wrong. But it’s hard to prove that a particular student was passed over.”
“Yes, some of these kids cheated on their SATs,” Cohen continues. “those slots might’ve gone to someone with a higher score. But SATs are just a good and reasonable measure of one dimension of a kid. How well did that kid prepare for the SAT? It’s not even a good predictor of how well they’ll do in college. So I don’t think the lawsuits will go anywhere.”
Huffman, Loughlin and Loughlin’s husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were among 50 people named last Tuesday in an alleged conspiracy to defraud and undermine competitive student admissions at elite colleges and universities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes to designate their daughters as recruits on the USC crew team — even though they don’t even row. The parentsare charged with conspiracyto commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. They have each been freed on $1 million bond.
Huffman is accused of paying $15,000 in a scheme to fraudulently boost her daughter’s SAT scores. The actress — whohas been chargedwith conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud — was released on a $250,000 bond after herarrestlast Tuesday andappeared in a Los Angeles courton Friday. Her next court hearing is on March 29.
Loughlin and Huffman have not entered pleas. Huffman’s rep and Loughlin’s attorney have not returned PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
source: people.com
