Following an August 7th filed stipulation, Jay Bennett and Isagenix have agreed to enter mediation.

Isagenix has also filed an appeal against a previously granted preliminary injunction.

As per the filed stipulation, the parties agreed to proceed to arbitration as ordered by the court.

That order was issued later the same day, directing Bennett and Isagenix to “initiate arbitration on or before August 23, 2023.”

Separately, on August 8th, Isagenix informed the court it had filed an appeal against its preliminary injunction decision.

Bennett secured an injunction against Isagenix last month.

As per the injunction, Isagenix was required to to restore Bennett’s access to his five distributor accounts. Isagenix is also prohibited from tampering with Bennett’s downline structure.

Seems kind of moot in light of arbitration going ahead. I suppose Isagenix is covering its bases in case arbitration falls through.

As far as a settlement goes, Bennett has demonstrated he intends to hold Isagenix to their agreed upon contract. I don’t see him accepting anything less than perhaps (slightly?) reduced income positions.

Isagenix might be hoping their appeal goes through, which would see Bennett put in a potentially precarious financial position.

Much easier to negotiate with someone under financial duress to get what you want could be the play here.

 

Update 28th May 2024 – Minor update on Bennett v. Isagenix mediation proceedings, as per a filed May 6th Joint Arbitration Status Report;

The parties report that the arbitration is currently in the discovery phase, with the final arbitration hearing still set for October 7, 2024 through October 11, 2024.

These Status Reports are due every 90 days so that leaves another update before the October 7th final arbitration hearing.

 

Update 27th October 2024 – No Status Report has been filed but Isagenix has prevailed in overturning the granted injunction on appeal.

As per a September 30th decision by the Ninth Circuit, filed on the case docket on October 24th;

The panel vacated the district court’s preliminary injunction barring Isagenix International LLC from terminating a business relationship with plaintiffs Jay and Siv Bennett.

The decision to overturn was based on the District Court failing to consider all relevant factors before granting the injunction.

Specifically, the District Court failed to flesh out Bennett’s arguments for irreparable harm (ironically in favor of the injunction being granted).

Because the district court explicitly declined to address the Bennetts’ remaining alternative arguments for finding
irreparable harm, we leave those issues for the district court on remand.

We hold only that the particular ground that the district court gave for finding irreparable harm was erroneous.

With the injunction overturned, Isagenix is free to lock Bennett out of his accounts again. Whether this factors into arbitration or a potential settlement remains to be seen.

 

Update 27th November 2024 – As per a Joint Arbitration Status Report filed on October 31st;

Per the Court’s order, the parties report that the final arbitration hearing has been reset for November 18, 2024, through November 22, 2024.

The parties will file their next arbitration status report in 90 days, unless otherwise ordered.

Our next update is expected when the above cited arbitration status report is filed.