People v. Ashford University, LLC

INTRODUCTION

Zovio, Inc. (Zovio) and Ashford University, LLC, a California limited liability company (together with Zovio, defendants) are the former owners and operators of an online university. Following a bench trial, the trial court found that for more than a decade, defendants violated the unfair competition

law (UCL) (Bus. & Prof. Code, 1 § 17200 et seq.) and false advertising law (FAL) (§ 17500 et seq.) by making false and misleading statements to prospective students. The court determined defendants committed 1,243,099 UCL and FAL violations and imposed $22,375,782 in civil penalties. Defendants do not challenge the trial court’s liability determination. Instead, their appeal is focused on obtaining a reduction in the $22,375,782 penalty award. They make the following contentions: (1) the penalty should be reduced because the court included in the penalty count violations occurring outside the FAL’s statute of limitations; (2) the court erred in the manner in which it calculated the number of violations; (3) the penalty should be reduced to avoid violating extraterritoriality principles; (4) the penalty should be reduced because it does not bear a reasonable relationship…