Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was held in contempt of court and fined $100,000 by a federal judge on Thursday for violating an order to stop collecting loan payments from now-defunct Corinthian College, according to multiple reports.
The Department of Education had been ordered to stop collecting on the federal loans of students who attended the school, which closed in 2015. However, the department disclosed it had continued to garnish wages and seize tax returns of thousands of borrowers. Others had erroneously paid money toward loans.
BREAKING: A federal judge Just held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court for violating an order to stop collecting on the student loans owed by students of a defunct for-profit college.
— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) October 25, 2019
DeVos and the Education Department was ordered to pay $100,000
U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim of California wrote that “the evidence shows only minimal efforts to comply with the preliminary injunction” she issued in May 2018 ordering the Education Department to halt its collection of the loans.
Calif. federal judge issues civil contempt order against Betsy Devos, slaps on $100K sanction: https://t.co/SFLHBXKjWx pic.twitter.com/LaSA6XSMWH
Some former students of the shuttered for-profit college had their paychecks garnished. Others had their tax refunds seized by the federal government.
Kim ordered the department to provide monthly status reports on its efforts to follow her order and rectify the harm it inflicted upon borrowers. Failure to comply with this latest order could result in additional sanctions.
DeVos nor the Education Department replied to the reports.
