Who Is Jennifer Kay Toy? New Details About The Woman Who Suing Felicity Huffman
...and why is she suing Felicity Huffman?
Instagram Getting into college isn't an easy feat. It certainly wasn't a walk in the park when I was applying back in 2001, and everyone knows it has only gotten more competitive with every passing year. To get into their top choice of college, students have to write killer essays, have great test scores, work several jobs, volunteer and be involved in athletics and other extracurriculars. I got tired just typing that, so imagine how the average 16 or 17-year-old feels planning for their higher education.
Some parents will stop at nothing to make sure their kids get into the BEST schools. Usually, this means being very strict and hiring them the best tutors and making sure they stay on track. Unless, you know, you are someone like Lori Loughlin or Felicity Huffman and you hire someone to illegally get your kid into a school they probably couldn't manage on their own. When news broke of the charges against some of Hollywood and the business world's most elite, some people were shocked. Other people, however, like Jennifer Kay Toy, took action.
So who is Jennifer Kay Toy? Here's what we know.
1. Why Jennifer Is Suing
Jennifer Kay Toy, who used to be a teacher in the Oakland Unified School District, has come out swinging against the individuals (including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman) named in college admissions crime scandal that has been making headlines for a week now.
Who is Jennifer Kay Toy? She's just another parent who worked really, really, hard alongside her son (Joshua Toy) to make sure that he was ready to go to college. Unfortunately, despite his 4.2-grade-point average and his years of hard work he did not get into several of the colleges to which he applied. While Toy does not say which schools her son didn't get into, it must have been a real blow because she's filed a $500 billion class-action lawsuit against those implicated in the crime.
“Joshua and I believed [sic] that he’d had a fair chance just like all other applicants but did not make the cut for some undisclosed reason. I’m now outraged and hurt because I feel that my son, my only child, was denied access to a college not because he failed to work and study hard enough but because wealthy individuals felt that it was ok to lie, cheat, steal and bribe their children’s way into a good college.”
2. Who Is Named In The Suit
In Jennifer Toy's lawsuit, she alleges that based on how long this scam was running, by her estimates more than one million people were negatively impacted by the people named in the criminal proceedings. While Jennifer doesn't seem to have those one million people on board her case, that hasn't stopped her from naming some seriously major players in her own suit.
Toy has named Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman and Loughlin’s husband, the fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, and upwards of 50 others. Some might argue that it's an odd choice to demand billions of dollars from people who are being criminally prosecuted for using their money and other resources to get their children into top tier colleges, but others might call that something else entirely: poetic justice.
3. This Isn't The First Suit, Either
After the charges came down on Huffman, Loughlin, and the rest, it was only a matter of time until lawsuits like the one filed by Toy started rolling in, both sincere legal claims and others just looking to make a buck or to get their time in the sun.
In fact, Jennifer Toy's pricy lawsuit isn't even the first one that has been filed! Two students from Stanford University students also filed a federal class-action lawsuit! Only they weren't content with going after the people implicated, they are going after the schools instead! The suit names Stanford, USC, UCLA, the University of San Diego, the University of Texas at Austin, Wake Forest University, Yale University, and Georgetown University.
4. William Singer's Role
Will Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman's names are being bandied about nonstop in regards to this continuing story, there's actually another person who should be coming under fire when it comes to public scrutiny: Newport businessman, William Singer. The wealthy and connected man owned a company called The Edge College & Career Network and made it his business to get wealthy students into the colleges of their parents' dreams. He claimed to have built a "side door" into schools like the exclusive USC.
According to authorities, there are hours of taped phone conversations where Singer brags about getting 850 students into top tier schools in just under two years. Some of the children were aware of the scheme being executed, while others were believed to have been left in the dark altogether.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. Her work focuses on relationships, pop culture and news. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr.