Email Article

Printable Page

Students Winning Court Judgments After Failed Vacation

By Kai Beasley
Black College Wire

In the three months since a senior trip went awry, six Hampton University graduates have won damages against the party promoter, a fellow student who mishandled more than $100,000 the students paid for a celebratory vacation.

Sunset Beach Resort and Spa Many students ended up sleeping four to five in a room to save money at what was touted as a "dream" destination.

The awards have ranged from $946 to graduate Christopher Malone to $1,504 won by fellow graduate Tiffany Richardson.

Christopher Thomas, president and CEO, ran the former Christopher Ryan Travel Agency with several other students at Hampton.

"I was really upset because my girlfriend and I had already paid him $1,044 for the trip," Richardson said. "I only got to stay for two nights."

Richardson, who now works at the corporate headquarters of Office Depot as a business development manager in Columbia, Md., filed suit on July 17. Judge Bonnie Jones of Hampton District Court ruled in her favor on Aug. 2. The Judge awarded Richardson the $1,044 she paid for the trip plus an additional $460 paid for two nights at the Sunset Beach Resort.

The court also ruled in favor of Sabreen Mutawally and Kristen Miles, who were each awarded $1,458; Pamela Laster, awarded $1,420; and Nemildra Persol, who received $1,388.

Richardson said she and other students filed criminal charges against Thomas at the Hampton, Va., police station, but because Thomas lives in Texas, pursuing the awarded money and a criminal investigation may be difficult.

A spokeswoman for the Hampton District Court clerk's office said judgments or charges filed in Virginia cannot be pursued across state lines unless Thomas were to be found in violation of a federal law.

She went on to say that she had no idea how the students would obtain their awards. "Typically, a plaintiff has 10 years to collect the money, through garnishment of wages or bank account," she said. The defendant can be summoned back to court to give testimony under oath on his financial state and on how long it will take to pay the judgment. The plaintiff may also execute a lien on the defendant's property but, according to the spokeswoman, who declined to be identified further, "none of this is applicable across state lines."

Not all those who were victimized are using the courts to recover their money.

"After [Thomas] left I know some people tried to contact his business partner without pursuing litigation on him," said Joshua Felder, a one-time close friend of Thomas and one of the recent Hampton graduates who went on the trip. "Even though he was being dishonest, we used to be good friends. I just didn't want to do him like that. I just let it go."

Thomas, a May Hampton graduate with a bachelor of science in business management, declined comment on the failed senior trip and his legal issues. But he did say that Christopher Ryan Travel is no longer in business.

Hampton University maintains it was not directly involved with the organization of the trip, though the university did negotiate lower room rates for the students who remained at the resort.

Yuri Rodgers Milligan, director of university relations, said in May, "While the university does sympathize with the students, it will not take any active legal action against Thomas."

More than 200 Hampton University seniors were shocked when they reached Sunset Beach Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on May 2 and found that the money they had given the Ryan travel agency for the trip had mysteriously disappeared.

"I was in disbelief," said Felder. "I confronted [Thomas] about the money three weeks prior to the trip. He didn't give me an honest answer, and he tried to deny that the money was missing."

Thomas later explained that he had invested the money in a business venture with a partner. When the venture failed, Thomas was unable to get the money back.

Students, some of whom had worked all year to save money for the trip, either paid a second time for their rooms or paid $100 to return to Hampton.

The trip was described on the popular Facebook Web site as a six-day, five-night stay in Montego Bay, from May 2 to May 7. Christopher Ryan Travel Inc. was to be paid $1,214 for a single room, $964 per person for a double room, and $905 per person for a triple room.

"He was overcharging," Felder said, "I know a lot of people who booked their room directly with the resort and they got it a lot cheaper."

Those who went to court were not sure if or when they will receive the court-awarded money. "Now it's just about trying to get the money back," Richardson said. "I don't know how they're going to do it. I don't know if they're going to garnish his wages or what."

Kai Beasley is a May graduate of Emory University. To comment, e-mail [email protected]

Posted Aug. 16, 2007