The federal judge has indeed been poorly briefed.
Traditional payment for endorsement training- the 5 jet type ratings I've picked up over the last fifteen years have all been paid for by the employer.
Of note, J* sent training bills for recurrent training to most of their A320 Dec's around that time- none of whom paid.
When the training captain tells the the trainee 'I've given up on you', this is more a reflection on the abilities of the trainer than the trainee. Not surprising really given the named trainers background.
While the trainees obligation to repay the endorsement amount isn't in question, his financial ability to repay has been severely hampered by J*.
The one dollar per week repayment option sounds good.