U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2019

Carlos Urquilla-Diaz v. Kaplan University

Carlos Urquilla-Diaz v. Kaplan University
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Decided April 16, 2019

Carlos Urquilla-Diaz v. Kaplan University

Opinion

Case: 17-13647 Date Filed: 04/16/2019 Page: 1 of 3

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-13647 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 1:09-cv-20756-PAS

In Re: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ex rel. __________________________________ CARLOS URQUILLA-DIAZ, Plaintiff - Appellant, JUDE GILLESPIE, et al., Plaintiffs, versus KAPLAN UNIVERSITY, a.k.a. Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, a.k.a. Kaplan College, KAPLAN HIGHER EDUCATION CORPORATION, a division of Kaplan, Inc.; wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company, KAPLAN, INC., Defendants - Appellees.

Case: 17-13647 Date Filed: 04/16/2019 Page: 2 of 3

________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (April 16, 2019) Before TJOFLAT, WILLIAM PRYOR and DUBINA, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: This is the second time we have considered an appeal in this case. In Urquilla-Diaz v. Kaplan University, 780 F.3d 1039 (11th Cir. 2015) (Kaplan I), we affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Diaz’s claims against Kaplan that were based on its alleged violations of the Department of Education’s satisfactory- progress regulation, 34 C.F.R. § 668.34; the 90/10 rule, 20 U.S.C. § 1094(a)(24), (d)(2); and the accreditation requirement, 34 C.F.R. § 600.5(a)(6). Id. at 1064. We reversed the district court’s dismissal of Diaz’s claims against Kaplan to the extent that they were based on its alleged violation of the incentive-compensation ban, 20 U.S.C. § 1094(a)(20); 34 C.F.R. § 668.14(b)(22)(ii), and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with our opinion. Id. On remand, the district court granted summary judgment to Kaplan, finding no genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Kaplan made false statements to the government with the requisite scienter. Additionally, the district court

Case: 17-13647 Date Filed: 04/16/2019 Page: 3 of 3

granted summary judgment to Kaplan because it found Diaz’s claim is barred as a matter of law by the public-disclosure bar of the False Claims Act.

After reviewing the record and reading the parties’ briefs, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment based on its well-reasoned order filed on July 13, 2017.

AFFIRMED.

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