Another Amway/Quixtar Diamond and Crown Lawsuit
Defendants Include Setzer, Gooch, Childers, Foley, and Woods
On April 4, 2002, a lawsuit was filed in Jacksonville, FL. This one will look somewhat familiar to those who've been following Amway/Quixtar participant lawsuits for the past few years.
In April, 1997, Hart's companies sued Amway Corp., Yager, Setzer, Gooch, Childers, D'Amico, Foley, Hayes, and Marin and/or their respective companies. His complaint was that they had bilked him of profit from the sale of motivational tools and functions. The suit was privately settled in May, 1998. "without prejudice."
Companies owned by Brig and Lita Hart, Double Diamonds from Jacksonville, are again suing various upline, downline and crossline individuals and companies. Many of these are also named in the suit brought by Ken Stewart's companies: Hal Gooch, Bill Childers, Tim Foley, Steve Woods, et al. (Both Hart's and Stewart's businesses are downline from Childers and Gooch.)
However, this suit goes into much more depth and detail than Hart's 1997 suit. Defendants are accused of tortious interference with contracts and with the Harts' business relationships; violation of FL Unfair Trade Practices laws; various breaches of contract; civil conspiracy; and trade libel, among other complaints.
Hart alleges a conspiracy among the defendants and others, very similar to the conspiracy claimed in Stewart v Gooch. It is a complaint heard from many sources: various distributors involved in the Amway-related motivational "system" managed to capture another Diamond's income from that system and funnel it into their own pocket. This usually serves to drive the person who has lost that income out, forcing them to resign their now-unprofitable distributorship.
Last year, (former) Diamond Al LeBlanc from Massachusetts was ousted by Don Storms, according to an e-book which he now makes available on the internet. Similar claims filed in the past few years include cases in Texas, Washington State, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere (see sidebar). All discuss the deception that takes place within the "tools system." Hart refers to the myths promulgated by the kingpins:
"The Upline Defendants, in recent years, by and through their conduct and purported "leadership" as distributors at or near the top of the Amway pyramid, have created and fostered myths among the many lower Amway distributors. The first myth is that by working hard to build the Amway business, an Amway distributor can build his/her Amway network to a point where they can achieve the Amway dream or "riches" like those touted by the Upline Defendants. Very simply, one cannot achieve comparable "riches" by selling Amway products. It is only through the participation in the BSMs industry that ultimately can lead to the attainment of the "riches" like those of Upline Defendants. "
The second myth, according to Hart, is that
". . .those engaged in the BSMs industry (Direct level and above), will be treated fairly with the BSMs rules, including the line of sponsorship and the servicing agreement rule, honored. The reality is that the Upline Defendants, as well as Defendants Foley and Woods, with the "riches" at the top of the Amway pyramid control the destiny of those below them, and they control and manipulate the BSMs business in such a way that one cannot attain these "riches" unless they so elect. And few do attain these "riches," regardless of the size of their downline."
Hart describes layers of secrecy surrounding the tool incomes, with the "leaders" promoting openness while creating secret companies to systematically siphon off all of the tools profits to their own use. Hart paints pictures of the defendants exercising levels of greed and deception which are rarely seen outside of Hollywood movies or Enron executive suites.
Amway/Quixtar Lawsuits |
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