Moon teacher settles lawsuit against online university

An Oakdale woman has settled her lawsuit claiming that an online university led her on to keep collecting tuition payments, according to court documents.

Anna Sibeto, a Spanish teacher at Moon Area High School, alleged in her 2013 lawsuit that Capella University told her for three years that her doctoral dissertation was almost good enough so that she would keep paying tuition. The university dropped her from the program in 2011, the lawsuit said.

The university denied that it engaged in unfair trade practices.

Both sides reached an agreement during mediation, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak on Thursday approved a joint motion to dismiss the case.

The motion doesn't provide any details of the agreement. Sibeto's lawyer and a university spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.

A lawyer for Sibeto told the Tribune-Review when she sued that his client took out loans “well into the six figures” to pay the tuition.