Herbalife @ BehindMLM

Defendant discovery costs in the Circle Of Success class-action are expected to top one million dollars. To date individual defendants have collectively spent $128,980 responding to discovery requests.

After failing to challenge the scientific validity of a damning paper on Herbalife’s products, the multi-billion dollar MLM company resorted to legal threats to get it unpublished.

The “Circle of Success” event class-action filed in Florida has been reopened. We’ve also got some updates on you on split proceedings taking place in California.

Ever wondered how US MLM companies do business in China? Boy have I got a story for you…

Authorities in the Philippines have seized over 11kg of weed, shipped from California in Herbalife meal replacement shake tins. Who says criminals don’t have a sense of humor?

Following an investigation into Herbalife’s Chinese operations, the SEC has determined the company uses it’s global compensation plan across the country. As Herbalife reveals in its own SEC filings, ‘[i]n China, while direct selling is permitted, multi-level marketing is not.‘

Consumption of Herbalife products to acute liver failure, according to a case study report published by medical staff in India. The report also details heavy metal, toxic compounds, psychotropic substance and bacterial contamination.

Following on from yesterday’s coverage of the class-action Herbalife “Circle of Success” lawsuit, a ruling has been made on filed arbitration and change of venue motions.

A group of Herbalife distributors have filed a class-action complaint. What makes this case interesting is it targets the company’s “Cycle of Success” events, which the class plaintiffs allege has resulted in over a billion dollars in Distributor losses.

Enforcement of Herbalife’s settlement with the FTC is certainly one of the more bizarre episodes of MLM regulation I’ve seen. As part of the settlement, Herbalife agreed to “restructure” their business. And a big part of the restructuring was only paying commissions on actual retail sales going forward. Considering retail sales volume was negligible to the [Continue reading…]