Textbook 'scam' alleged in federal lawsuit against SC's biggest technical college [View all]

A used textbook seller is taking South Carolina’s largest public technical college to federal court alleging it ran a “scam” on its own students by inking a deal with one of the country’s leading textbook publishers.

Trident Technical College and President Mary Thornley misled students about textbook pricing and prevented them from shopping around for secondhand classroom materials, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

The lawsuit comes as seismic shifts are restructuring the college textbook industry. Textbook prices could grow out of control in the long run if other colleges continue to sign such exclusive deals with publishers and edge out the secondhand market, according to the lawsuit.

“I think the bigger picture of what they’re trying to do here is they’re trying to eliminate competition, and once that happens they can charge whatever they want,” said Jeremy Cucinella, regional manager of Virginia Pirate Corp., which owns Textbook Brokers in North Charleston.

Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/news/textbook-scam-alleged-in-federal-lawsuit-against-sc-s-biggest/article_d266c94a-262e-11e9-a6dd-ab6ac37fa3d1.html