Court Says State Case Against Stone Academy is Strong; Issues $5 Million Prejudgement Remedy as Case Proceeds

The case is far from over, but a significant victory and meaningful findings this week in the lawsuit filed by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong against Stone Academy, the now-defunct nursing school that left students without an opportunity to earn the degrees they had paid for when the school abruptly closed just over a year ago.

In a ruling in Superior Court, the state secured a $5 million prejudgment remedy against Stone Academy, affirming the strength of the State’s case.

Attorney General Tong sued Stone Academy, Paier College of Art and their owner Joseph Bierbaum last year following the abrupt closure, alleging numerous violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. The State asked the court to attach millions of dollars of Stone’s and Bierbaum’s assets during the pendency of the litigation to prevent defendants from offloading or shifting resources to evade accountability.  That request has now effectively been granted.

The state retains the right to attach property, including real estate, belonging to Stoney Academy and Joseph Bierbaum, as the case proceeds, to assure that the defendants to do shift resources to evade accountability during the proceedings.  In granting the $5 million prejudgment remedy, Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis stated that the State has established probable cause that it will prevail in its case against Stone.

 Defendants “materially misrepresented to consumers significant aspects of Stone Academy’s practical nursing program,” Judge Bellis wrote. She further stated that the State “acted reasonably in refusing to allow Stone Academy to offer a teach-out… the fact that the State did not authorize a teach-out does not excuse the misconduct of the PJR defendants.”

Judge Bellis also found specifically that Stone Academy and Bierbaum violated the law “knowingly,” concluding that the problems at Stone were not simply “consequences relating to the [COVID-19] pandemic” as they have claimed.

Significantly, the Attorney General’s office pointed out, the Court found that “Stone Academy failed to provide the instruction and clinical training that it promised their students.” In addition, Stone Academy misrepresented significant aspects of its “practical nursing program including, the hands-on clinical hours and experience promised in its marketing materials” and its ability to provide students with “qualified faculty.” 

All of which goes to the core of the suit and the actions taken by the defendants and the impact of those actions on Stone Academy students.  The school’s closure on February 15, 2023 included all online programs and campuses in East Hartford, Waterbury, and West Haven.  Attorney General Tong launched an investigation into the abrupt closing just over a week later, saying at that time that “Students paid thousands of dollars in tuition and worked extremely hard—some over many months and years—to fulfill their dreams of becoming nurses. Stone failed them… The school was simply not preparing its students to become successful nurses.”

A state audit last summer found large portions of Stone Academy class credits and clinical hours invalid, meaning they will not count toward students' graduation requirements, according to published reports. 

Following the prejudgment ruling this week, the Attorney General said “The magnitude of this prejudgment remedy and the strong words in this decision send a clear message to Stone Academy and its owners—you knowingly broke the law, you harmed students, and you will be held accountable.  We are demanding millions of dollars in penalties and recovery of ill-gotten gains, and we’re going to fight for every measure of justice possible.”