Lawsuit Alleges Rutgers Business School Created Fake Jobs For Grads

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Friday, a bombshell lawsuit was filed against Rutgers Business School that alleges Rutgers inflated its national rankings by hiring a temp agency to create bogus jobs for its newly minted MBA grads.

These jobs were entirely fictional, alleges the lawsuit, which was filed by a woman who actually works for the school. She also says Rutgers would place recent graduates in jobs within the school, which still inflated the program's "hired-after-graduation" rate, she says.

The lawsuit was filed by Deidre White, a Rutgers employee. She works as a human resources manager at Rutgers Business School. Her lawsuit is publicly accessible here: https://www.redbanklegal.com/w...

"Rutgers hired unemployed MBA students directly by placing them in sham positions through 'temp-agency' Adecco Employment Services, Inc. (“Adecco”)," White alleges in her suit. "This was a blatant effort to give the impression of a higher overall full-time employability rating with third-parties and to deceptively bolster Rutgers’s 'ranking' with crucial media outlets, such U.S. News & World Report."

"(Rutgers) intentionally reported false data and made misleading claims in marketing materials, falsely asserting the unemployed students were gainfully employed in full-time MBA-level jobs with a third-party company," the suit continued. "The fraud worked. In the very first year of the scheme,Rutgers was suddenly propelled to, among other things, the 'No. 1' business school in the Northeast region."

White says Rutgers paid the temp agency $400,000 from its endowment to create the fake positions. She also said that money was paid in the form of “kickbacks” to the temp agency.

When asked by NJ.com, which first reported this story, Rutgers said they do not usually commend on litigation.

However:

“We will say without equivocation, however, that we take seriously our obligation to accurately report data and other information to ranking and reporting agencies,” the university said. “The Rutgers Business School strictly follows the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance guidelines in submitting MBA statistics and similarly follows the appropriate guidelines in submitting undergraduate statistics.”

White said she complained vocally about her allegations and was "subjected to a hostile work environment, disparate treatment, and retaliation because of both her complaints."

Obtaining a Rutgers MBA now cost $24,048 per semester, and it takes students about two years to earn the MBA (so, four semesters). So a Rutgers MBA for a student not from New Jersey costs $96,192.

In her lawsuit, White's lawyers write: "Higher education is 'big business' and the formula to achieve accolades and profits is simple – more students paying higher tuition costs means more profits, higher salaries and more accolades for administrators ... For decades colleges and universities across the country have seen yearly tuition increases that far outpace inflation, particularly at the professional and graduate institution level. One of the root causes is blatant fraud. Numerous institutions justified the increase in tuition with deceptive data regarding post-graduation employment opportunities, hiring rates, and salaries. Apparently, Rutgers is no different."

White's lawsuit was filed by McOmber, McOmber & Luber law firm, located in Marlton, New Jersey.

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