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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

17. Commitments and Contingencies

Adtalem is subject to lawsuits, administrative proceedings, regulatory reviews, and investigations associated with financial assistance programs and other matters arising in the conduct of its business and certain of these matters are discussed below. Descriptions of certain matters from prior SEC filings may not be carried forward in this report to the extent we believe such matters no longer are required to be disclosed or there has not been, to our knowledge, significant activity relating to them. As of March 31, 2024, we have adequately reserved for matters that management has determined a loss is probable and that loss can be reasonably estimated. For those matters for which we have not recorded an accrual, their possible impact on Adtalem’s business, financial condition, or results of operations, cannot be predicted at this time. The continued defense, resolution, or settlement of any of the following matters could require us to expend significant resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, and result in the imposition of significant restrictions on us and our ability to operate.

On January 12, 2022, Walden was served with a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland by Aljanal Carroll, Claudia Provost Charles, and Tiffany Fair against Walden for damages, injunctive relief, and declaratory relief on behalf of themselves and all other similarly-situated individuals alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Minnesota Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act, the Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Minnesota statutes prohibiting false statements in advertising, and for common law fraudulent misrepresentation. Plaintiffs allege that Walden has targeted, deceived, and exploited Black and female Doctor of Business Administration (“DBA”) students by knowingly misrepresenting and understating the number of “capstone” credits required to complete the DBA program and obtain a degree. On March 23, 2022, Walden filed a Motion to Dismiss the Plaintiffs’ claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. On November 27, 2022, the Court denied Walden’s motion to dismiss the complaint. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint to add an additional plaintiff, Tareion Fluker. Walden answered the amended complaint on February 2, 2023. The parties participated in a non-binding mediation on May 4, 2023 and settlement discussions continued. At a second non-binding mediation held on September 21, 2023, the parties agreed on a $28.5 million payment to resolve the issues in the case, subject to agreement on non-financial terms. The parties subsequently agreed to the non-financial terms including an agreement by Walden to implement certain website disclosures and verifications and to make certain programmatic changes. A settlement agreement has been executed by the parties. The settlement agreement in no way constitutes an admission of wrongdoing or liability by Walden. Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement on March 28, 2024. On April 17, 2024, the District Court preliminarily approved the settlement, which includes the provisional certification of the settlement class (the “Class”). The Court has scheduled a fairness hearing on July 23, 2024 to determine, among other things, whether the requirements for certification of the Class have been met, whether the settlement should be approved as fair and reasonable, and whether the order and final judgment approving the settlement should be entered. We recorded a $28.5 million loss contingency accrual for this matter within accrued liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2024. In January 2024, Adtalem made a claim for indemnification under the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement with Laureate Education, Inc. (“Laureate”), dated September 11, 2020, pursuant to which Adtalem

purchased Walden. If a settlement is approved by the Court, Adtalem expects to receive $5.5 million from Laureate in connection with such indemnification claim.

On June 6, 2022, plaintiff Rajesh Verma filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself and a class of similarly situated individuals in the Circuit Court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval County Florida, against Walden alleging that Walden was placing telephonic sales calls to persons on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, et seq. Although originally filed in state court, Walden removed the case to federal court and filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint. On August 26, 2022, plaintiff filed a motion to remand Count I of the complaint to state court. On March 2, 2023, plaintiff filed an amended complaint to add a Florida state law claim against Walden under the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (“FTSA”). On March 16, 2023, Walden filed its answer to the amended complaint. On March 29, 2023, Walden’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint and plaintiff’s motion to remand Count I of the complaint were denied. A non-binding mediation was held on September 18, 2023. The parties reached a settlement for an immaterial amount, subject to Court approval. On November 27, 2023, the parties filed a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement. The motion is still pending before the Court.

As previously disclosed, pursuant to the terms of the Stock Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) by and between Adtalem and Cogswell, dated as of December 4, 2017, as amended, Adtalem sold DeVry University to Cogswell and Adtalem agreed to indemnify DeVry University for certain losses up to $340.0 million (the “Liability Cap”). Adtalem has previously disclosed DeVry University related matters that have consumed a portion of the Liability Cap.

In late January 2024 and early February 2024, ED sent notice to Chamberlain, RUSM, RUSVM, and Walden that it had received approximately 3,225, 1,700, 1,900, and 7,740 borrower defense to repayment applications filed by students at Chamberlain, RUSM, RUSVM, and Walden respectively between June 23, 2022 and November 15, 2022. Each application seeks forgiveness of federal student loans made to these students. In the notices received, ED indicated that: (1) the notification was occurring prior to any substantive review of the application as well as its adjudication; (2) it would send the applications to each institution in batches of 500 per week; (3) it is optional for institutions to respond to the applications; and (4) not responding will result in no negative inference by ED. ED has also explained that it will separately decide whether to seek recoupment on any approved claim and that any recoupment actions ED chooses to initiate will have their own notification and response processes, which include an opportunity to provide additional evidence to the institutions. ED has indicated that an institution will learn of ED’s determination to forgive student loans only if it approves a borrower defense to repayment application and ED seeks recoupment. Chamberlain, RUSM, RUSVM, and Walden are responding to all of the applications received and they believe that none properly stated a claim for loan forgiveness.