another escalates.

Deborah Caruso, the bankruptcy trustee representing ITT's debtors, last month filed a $250 million lawsuit against Modany and eight former ITT board directors. The lawsuit alleges Modany steered ITT into financial peril as part of a focus on maximizing his severance pay and future career prospects. The board failed to rein him in, according to the suit.

Modany received total compensation of $1.4 million in 2015; $3.2 million in 2014 and $3 million in 2013.

ITT in September 2016 filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its campuses under pressure from the federal government, displacing 40,000 students and 8,000 employees. Many students, carrying piles of student loans and credits that are difficult to transfer, have struggled to return to school.

Modany worked as CEO of ITT from April 2007 untilthe company closed. He is seeking up to $5 million in severance through the bankruptcy process, which is slogging through court.

In addition to the SEC charges, which were filed in May 2015, ITT was the subject of probes from about 20 state attorneys general over a litany of allegations regarding the school's recruitment tactics and academic offerings. The SEC's settlement is drawing criticism from some people who say ITT's former executives are getting off with a slap on the wrist.

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“This sweetheart deal for ITT executives is yet another injustice for ITT students," Toby Merrill, the director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, said in a