Students File Lawsuit Against Fila Academy Claiming Fraud and Violations of Maryland's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act

Former students of the Fila Academy, a for profit barber school in Glen Burnie, Maryland, filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the school and its owner, Larry Fila, claiming that the school made material misrepresentations during the admissions process, and that the school defrauded them into enrolling into the school based on false promises.  The seven students also claim they were wrongfully dismissed from the school, and that the school then filed lawsuits against many of the wrongfully dismissed students to collect the balances of their tuition.

Some of the students were minors when they enrolled at the Fila Academy and signed papers indebting them to the school for $16,300.00 for their barber school education.  At least one student filed a complaint with the State of Maryland.

Allan W. Steinhorn, lead counsel in the case, claims that the school took federal taxpayer funds to enroll students with little or no income in the $16,300.00 barber program.  The students claim among other things that after enrolling in the barber school, they were required to clean bathrooms and sell products for the school in order to graduate.  The lawsuit  further alleges that the school told the students before they enrolled that graduates from the Fila Academy could earn "as much as doctors or lawyers."

The students are seeking class certification from the Court, contending that many other students were similarly defrauded by the school.  The case is currently pending in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  No  trial date has yet been set.