Judge says Multi-million dollar lawsuit involving former head of aviation program to go to jury
The defendants in Daniel Hamilton’s $60 million dollar lawsuit against Yavapai College and some of its administrators must go to a jury trial, Federal District Judge G. Murray Snow ruled September 28 (Wednesday). Recall that Mr. Hamilton is the former Yavapai College Director of Aviation Programs.
Hamilton is a professional aviator, a veteran and a decorated former F-16 fighter pilot who served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force from 1997 to 2007. He reportedly started his job with Yavapai College in Sept. 6, 2011, and was terminated on or about May 31, 2012.
According to Hamilton’s lawyer, “One of the educational programs under the Post 9/11 GI Bill is a helicopter flight training/degree program.” Among the requirements of the program is that no more than 85 percent of the students in the program can be funded by the VA or by the educational institution. “No new VA benefits are paid when the computation establishes that the 85/15 ratio is not satisfied.” Mr. Hamilton’s lawsuit alleges that Yavapai College and Prescott-based Guidance Aviation fraudulently took tuition money for its aviation programs from the U.S. Veterans Administration’s Post-9/11 GI Bill, but did not comply with the program’s requirements. Along with the false claim allegations, Hamilton is also suing Yavapai College for wrongful termination under the False Claims Act whistleblower protection provisions and under state law.
In his order denying a request by the defendants that the lawsuit be dismissed, Judge Snow wrote that “[t]he Defendants were warned that the 85/15 ratio `applied to each program and each course’ containing veterans.” He also observed that “Yavapai and Guidance had violated Regulation 4201 in the past.”
Judge Snow rejected the theory that JTED students could be counted in the 15% required by the Veterans Administration. In part he wrote: “Notes from a meeting between Guidance, NorthAire, and Yavapai representatives in July of 2012 indicate that the Defendants had reason to know that `there is a statute stating we can’t count the JTED students as civilians because they are possibly counted in secondary, per the state.’”
The judge’s decision should drive Yavapai College to begin serious negotiations to settle the lawsuit. A complete copy of Judge Snow’s order can be found by clicking on the following link. 414-order-on-dispositive-motions1815086