A federal judge has fined U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for contempt of court for failing to stop collecting loans from former students of a now-defunct chain of for-profit colleges. The court ruling orders the Education Department to pay a $100,000 fine. The judge said Devos had violated an order to stop collecting loans owed by students who had been defrauded by Corinthian Colleges.

The finding is part of a class action lawsuit filed by Harvard University's Project on Predatory Student Lending. In the ruling, Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco found that the Department of Education failed to show any reason that it should not be held in contempt. The judge fined the department $100,000 and ordered monthly reporting updates.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was held in contempt by a federal judge Thursday for violating a court order to stop collecting loan repayments from thousands of students that were defrauded by a for-profit chain of colleges.

A federal judge said the education secretary had violated an order to stop collecting on loans owed by students from a now-defunct for-profit chain of colleges.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education were held in civil contempt by a federal judge on Thursday and ordered to pay damages to student borrowers who took out loans to attend a now defunct for-profit college. The judge had previously ordered the Department of Education to stop collecting on the loans. But last month, the department admitted that more than 16,000 borrowers were incorrectly informed that they owed a payment on their debt after the court order. About 1,800 had their wages garnished and more than 800 were mistakenly subject to adverse credit reporting.

A federal judge on Thursday held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court and imposed a $100,000 fine for violating an order to stop collecting on the student loans owed by students of a defunct for-profit college. The exceedingly rare judicial rebuke of a Cabinet secretary came after the Trump administration was forced to admit to the court earlier this year that it erroneously collected on the loans of some 16,000 borrowers who attended Corinthian Colleges despite being ordered to stop doing so.

A federal judge on Thursday held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt for violating an order to stop collecting loan payments from former Corinthian Colleges students. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco slapped the Education Department with a $100,000 fine for violating a preliminary injunction.

A federal judge held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court on Thursday and sanctioned the Education Department with a $100,000 fine after it said DeVos refused to comply with a court mandate to cease collection of loans from students who were defrauded by now-defunct Corinthian Colleges.