Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against MonaVie in Arkansas – USA

Class Action Lawsuit

Joel Neal Oliver, a resident of the state of Arkansas filed a Class action Lawsuit against Monavie.

A class action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon.

Joe Neal Oliver made two purchases of Mona Vie Products on August 27, 2010. One purchase was in the amount of $115 and another in the amount of $130. The amount in controversy in this action is five million dollars.

On 4 October 2011, the Arkansas court has instructed MonaVie to provide independent distributors of MonaVie products with certain materials, which include a copy of the complaint and a document preservation order. (See below)

A part of Joel Neal Oliver's complaint:

INTRODUCTION AND NATURE OF CASE

I. The Mona Vie juice scam is the newest creation of noted muItilevel marketing scheme architect, and prior super juice creator, Dallin Larsen, after his last venture was halted by the Food and Drug Administration because of false and misleading advertising. Much like Larsen's last super juice creation, Mona Vie is marketed and sold to vulnerable consumers at an outrageously inflated price because Defendants and their independent distributors create false hopes for preventing and treating illnesses by generating false and misleading advertisements and claims about the health benefits of drinking Mona Vie juice.

Defendants and their independent distributors are engaged in a conspiracy to unjustly enrich themselves to the maximum extent possible at the expense of consumers who fall victim to the false and misleading advertisements generated by Defendants and their co-conspirators. This is the Mona Vie Scheme. This lawsuit is designed to redress the harm done to Arkansas consumers as a result of the Mona Vie Scheme.

2. Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it. Mona Vie's story is almost identical to that of Royal Tongan Limu — another super juice product with too·good-to-be-true alleged health benefits. Both were created by Larsen. Both are based upon an exotic superfood found in remote locations of the world. Both marketing schemes were based on claims of outrageous health benefits from consuming the product ranging from curing cancer and diabetes to making your skin beautiful.

Both were sold through multi-level marketing schemes where untrained distributors sell the product by extolling the tlllproven health benefits to unwitting consumers. Royal Tongan Limu came under FDA scrutiny for the false !U\d misleading advertisements about its alleged health benefits and the product was ultimately taken off the market with the unsold inventory being poured into a landfill under FDA supervision. The false and misleading advertisements generated by the Mona Vie Scheme, which can best be described as propaganda,all just as offensive to the common law and consumer protection laws as was the Royal Tongan Limu advertising.

3. The propaganda created through the Mona Vie Scheme is false and misleading about thenature of and benefits attributable to consuming Mona Vie juice. The propaganda is an essentialcomponent of the Scheme because the perpetuation of the belief that Mona Vie juice will cure or treat whatever health problems a consumer might have is the main reason Defendants are able to charge the wrongfully inflated price of approximately $45 for a 25 ounce bottle.

Kevin Thompson, MLM Attorney commented as follows:

Kevin Thompson MLM AttorneyThis morning, I received an email regarding a class action lawsuit against MonaVie in the state of Arkansas. The lawsuit can be filed below. There are no pyramid allegations. Instead, the attorneys are focusing on various health claims made by distributors.

The lawyers in Arkansas better have some serious cash because they’ve just signed up for some ridiculously expensive litigation. Proving that there’s a pattern of misconduct amongst tens of thousands of distributors will be a challenging task and require some substantial discovery.

Plus, MonaVie takes health claims very seriously with its compliance department. If they can demonstrate a long history of disciplining distributors making inappropriate health claims, they’ll argue that the facts referenced by the Arkansas lawyers are isolated incidents.

Plus, as we’ve seen with other class action cases against network marketing companies, one of the best tools to use is the media. Where was the media attention to this one? Either I’ve been sleeping under a rock or nobody knew about this. It was filed in December of 2010! If this case is being litigated in a vacuum, MonaVie can fight this one all day everyday.

Monavie Legal and Compliance Staff:

MonaVie is committed to following and complying with all state and federal regulations. Recently, MonaVie was named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit filed in Arkansas state court. The lawsuit alleges false advertising on the part of MonaVie.

However, MonaVie vigorously disputes these allegations and is seeking a dismissal of all claims made. The Arkansas court has instructed MonaVie to provide independent distributors of MonaVie products with certain materials, which include a copy of the complaint and a document preservation order.

These two documents, as well as MonaVie's response to the lawsuit, may be accessed by clicking the links above.

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Comments (13)

  1. Ouch Ted this one seriously is interesting especially after our skype converstaion the other day (product Pushing) Once again I would like to thank you for your informative postings. I actually thanks to your posting deposited a small amount of third party tools directly into the recycle bin. As you have said why jeapordise a companies scientific and historical credability through some poorly made cheap tools.
    Any way Ted cheers and I am onto my home work just transferring a few of your suggestions and tips from your mentoring site. All the best and should any distributors of this company in the spotlight desire another option
    God speed all

  2. Danny not sure Ted is looking for people to use this info to promote their companys products. Post you ideas and thoughts but your website for a competitors product is just not professional. Ted has all the best info. Thanks Ted for you time and hard work.

  3. Thank you Ted for your great informations…I love this website ’cause it’s the best information website in the mlm world.
    In germany we have nothing like this…only big lies and that’s so sad for the great, great industrie of MLM..

    So, i hope for more informations…

    Kind regards from germany
    Youssef Boutzakht
    International Sales Manager

  4. There are always people out there looking to make a quick buck by suing. The MLM industry is such an easy target with millions of well meaning but essentially untrained reps out there. Let hope justice prevails.

  5. Hi Ted,
    This case although interesting, on the face of it seems doomed to fail. Whoever wins or loses though, what this case could easily do is smear not just the juice industry but worryingly perhaps all of the ‘wellness’ product networks as a whole which would be sad. Anyway time will tell and I’m sure there will already be any army of legal experts dreaming about their fees,
    Regards,
    John
    https://the globalnetwork.biz

  6. Its like his lawyer copied a dozen wrong facts off the juice scam website. Dallin never owned Limu, he was VP of sales for less than a year and left in 2001, nearly a year before Natures Bounty, the largest publicly traded company in the nutritional space voluntarily folded Dynamic Essentials. This court case is a sad reflection on what happens when you outsource your legal research overseas on Elance.

  7. Don’t you just love the emotive language? “Mona Vie is marketed and sold to vulnerable consumers at an outrageously inflated price” Or try this one: “Defendants and their “independent distributors” are engaged in a conspiracy to unjustly enrich themselves to the maximum extent possible at the expense of consumers who fall victim to……”

    This smacks of an ambulance chaser style legal outfit hunting for fees. These hucksters are well practiced in the art of creating victims, where none existed before. It’s a bit like the pharmaceutical industry inventing new diseases and ailments so they can create a new profit center for themselves.

    Predators like this ought to be resisted and exposed as the real charlatans – not good companies like Mona Vie

  8. Here is something funny. I believed in there great company. I made a very high rank and then the plunge. Including losing my home, my family and still kept being a loyal mv distributor thinking it would change. Then they wanted me to acknowledge their class action approval which if i did not click it would not let me into my back office, oh did i mention that i lost $200,000 dollars on my power leg because I did not click it not knowing what it said.. I got more to talk about but it would get you sick. Then I contacted mv threw a email and never got an answer back.

  9. Based on what I’ve seen about MV, and how even their own people can’t tell you exactly how much of the Acia berry is actually in it, as well as having tasted it once, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened any sooner. I met a man who was promoting MV on the back of his vehicle and we talked about it. I didn’t tell him that I knew it was over priced, tasted terrible, and really didn’t do anything for anyone at all. There isn’t any scientific documentation of real independent research on any of the ingredients in it. Besides, what person in their right mind is going to build their own factory to make a fruit juice that might not even sell? That’s why companies that are getting started will use contract food manufacturers in order to reduce the risks involved in a start up such as this. If so great, then why isn’t it listed in the PDR Supplement for OTC and Herbal products like Zavita happens to be, which is listed in the 2007 PDR in the Supplement for Over The Counter and Herbal based products by name? Anyone can make a fruit juice from exotic fruits and have people “swallow” their marketing if it’s done like a slick used car salesman selling a car with an engine that’s about to blow up, with a transmission that’s about to lock up and brakes that won’t stop when you need them.

    Yes, I do have something to offer anyone that’s really looking for something much better than MV, or any other “fruit juice”, such as Noni, but unless you ask, or let me know, I’m not going to waste my time. What I can tell you is this, there are 2 questions to ask yourself if it’s a company with good products and a good opportunity. A litmus test if you will. The first question to ask is, would you buy the product at full retail for yourself, month after month, without getting any sort of a discount, or money back through any sort of rebate program? If not, then it’s over priced. The second question is, would you keep telling people about it, even if you never got paid anything at all for it? Anyone that is trying to get you to get a case of MV, which really isn’t cheap if you look at what they recommend you drink every day, is only looking for a commission check of some sort. Personally, I don’t need the headache and hassle, or anyone’s money, as when I tell someone about Zavita, it’s for their benefit health wise. My wife & I have been drinking about 8 to 9 bottles, the same size of MV, ever since it came out in 2006. The difference between MV, Noni, Goji, Limu, and all the rest, is they are nothing more than glorified fruit juices, whereas Zavita is the extract of the bark, leaves, and roots of 7 plants found in the Amazon Rain Forest and then flavored with fruit juice. Most people discover after their 2nd case, that it’s not worth it, and then they drop out. Also, having a binary payout is guaranteed to make sure you don’t get all the money you’re entitled to anyway.

    Another thing to do, is to put the name of a prospective company into a search engine along with the word “lawsuit”, or complaints, and see how many are there, and if they’re valid or not. Just my 2 cents worth, as that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. By the way, my wife is also a RN, CDN (Certified Dialysis Nurse) with 7 years of experience in dialysis and has been a RN for 24 years. If it wasn’t for all the wellness products from First Fitness International, a 22 year old company, she’d either be dead, or, in the hospital all the time.

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