PITTSBURGH (AP) - Some people who took classes intended to turn unemployed Appalachian coal miners and others into computer software technicians have sued, saying they didn’t get promised paid apprenticeships and jobs.
The complaint in West Virginia’s Raleigh County Circuit Court proposes class-action damages for everyone who lost months of their time and other employment possibilities since January 2016, as well as punitive damages.
The suit against Mined Minds Foundation Inc. and its principals lists two plaintiffs. Attorney Andrew Taylor said there are others.
On its website, the foundation says its mission is “growing tech hubs in areas of economic need within rural Appalachia. … By creating new pools of software developers in low-cost areas, the tech industry benefits through availability of an increased onshore workforce, and local communities increase the diversification of their economies.”
Victoria Frame, of Lizemore, said she took daylong classes in Beckley from June through November, following an informational session where students were “promised monetary compensation for their time in the training and apprenticeship phases,” according to the court complaint. “The program did not sufficiently prepare (her) for a job in the tech field.”
Operators of the nonprofit foundation based in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, told The Associated Press they have trained about 50 people in West Virginia and 35 in Pennsylvania in computer programming techniques and software development.
Jonathan Graham, one of the principals, said students paid no tuition or fees, some 41 completed the training, 16 work for Mined Minds and several found other jobs. Teaching included the computer programs Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL, AWS Cloud tools, Heroku, Git, Trello, Zoom and Slack, he said.
The suit said the training is funded by government grants and was recently suspended in Pennsylvania following scrutiny by the state Education Department. It calls “objectively false” a claim that all the school’s graduates have found jobs in the tech industry.
“We promise to show up and teach if they show up to learn. There are no promises, just like in any training,” Graham said. “We have never received any grants. We have contracted with partners and workforce development groups who are at least in part funded through grants.”
Graham said he didn’t know how many graduates got outside tech jobs. He said some have gone to work for companies including software company SAP, banker PNC, 84 Lumber and the West Virginia Supreme Court, while some started their own companies.
There are no current classes in Pennsylvania, where Mined Minds works with training partners and may have another class next year, Graham said.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the Three-Rivers Workforce Development Board received two state grants for IT training and provided subgrants to Mined Minds. The department is providing technical assistance and reviewing the board’s administrative oversight, spokeswoman Lindsay Bracale said Wednesday.
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