Foreign Students Demand Refunds in Rising Phoenix Class Action Lawsuit

UPDATE:

• The parties involved in this case settled out of court, and the case was discontinued Oct. 26, 2021.

Foreign students enrolled in an educational institution operated by Rising Phoenix in Quebec who cancelled their enrollment, may soon be Class Members in a proposed class action lawsuit against Rising Phoenix.

The Rising Phoenix class action lawsuit alleges the company failed to refund tuition fees following a transfer or cancellation requested by students, thus breaching several laws, including the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

Rising Phoenix Foreign Students Fight Back

Foreign students included in the class action lawsuit are all those who were granted admission to study at CDE College in Sherbrooke Quebec or any other educational institution operated by Rising Phoenix in Quebec in the past three years. Additionally, to be included in the class action, foreign students must have either cancelled their enrollment prior to the provision of services or after services had started being provided and made a deposit but have not obtained the amount due to them by law.

Rising Phoenix International works with educational institutions to help bring foreign students into educational programs.

The two Class representatives, Kaur Kiranpreet and Muneet Muneet, commenced this legal action after learning that their higher education studies would take place far away from any familiar community and in a language that neither of them speak.

Kiranpreet was born in Punjab, India. She was made aware of the Rising Phoenix program through an agent in her home state. According to the Rising Phoenix class action lawsuit, the agent proposed CDE College, located in Sherbrooke, without informing her that Sherbrooke was primarily a francophone city and “a fair distance from the established Indian community in Montreal,” according to the complaint.

Importantly, Kiranpreet does not speak French, which would significantly hamper her chances of finding employment and integrating into a community in Sherbrooke.

According to the Rising Phoenix class action lawsuit, after her arrival in Quebec and “prior to the commencement of any services being performed by the Respondents, Kaur advised the Respondents that she did not want to pursue her studies at CDE College and requested a refund of the monies she had already paid,” which add up to over $15,000. Rising Phoenix only agreed to reimburse Kiranpreet $8,436.

Students’ Fees ‘Held Hostage’

The Rising Phoenix class action lawsuit alleges the defendants violated Quebec law by withholding the entirety of the fees paid. The complaint further argues that the defendant’s behaviour is even “more egregious,” because the defendants refused to reimburse the $8,436 they initially offered to reimburse.

The class action lawsuit submits that the fees are “being held hostage, a course of conduct which flagrantly violates Article 6 of the Quebec Charter.”

The Class representatives, finding themselves in a new country and far from friends and family, are “compelled to become involved in legal proceedings” to recover fees that are illegally being withheld, argues the class action lawsuit.

Rising Phoenix Falls For Fast Cash

Rising Phoenix seeks to recruit international students and get them to commit to attending one of the private educational facilities to which it is affiliated. The Rising Phoenix class action lawsuit alleges that the educational facilities associated with the company are ultimately under the control of the three individual defendants in the case: Caroline Bonneville, Christina Mastantuono and Joseph Mastantuono.

Class counsel sketch out the defendants’ alleged intricate scheme, which involves the three individual defendants spearheading, managing and controlling Rising Phoenix’s “illicit activities.”

The schema can be roughly sketched out as follows: Caroline Bonneville, Christina Mastantuono and Joseph Mastantuono are shareholders of various corporations, including two schools that Rising Phoenix is associated with. They are also shareholders and directors of Rising Phoenix.

The class action lawsuit contends that “the incestuous relationship among the various corporate entities whose shareholdings are in one way or another controlled by three individuals” is apparent, and that these defendants stand to benefit from foreign student funds.

“It is submitted that the Individual Respondents sought to take advantage of foreign students who had no prior knowledge of the laws of Quebec and were far from home, from their friends and family. In other words, they sought to exploit to their advantage the situation these foreign students found themselves in.”

Class counsel believes that the Class may total hundreds of individuals.

Do you think Rising Phoenix acted illegally? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The lead plaintiffs are represented by Tom Markakis of De Louya Markakis.

The Rising Phoenix Class Action Lawsuit is Kiranpreet Kaur, et al. v. Rising Phoenix International Inc., et al., Case No. 500-06-001097-209, in the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montreal, Canada.

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