Alticor Media Blog

Alticor Media Blog is the official news weblog from the Alticor family of companies.

March 18th, 2008 @ 6:28 pm ET…

Unfair competition

Quixtar today filed a complaint against MonaVie, a Salt Lake City-based company that sells a handful of juice products through a network of distributors, and several MonaVie distributors. MonaVie is standing idly by while its distributors attempt to lure representatives away from other direct selling companies—including Quixtar—in violation of Quixtar’s non-compete policies and in violation of other companies’ non-compete and non-solicitation rules.

We know Quixtar Independent Business Owners (IBOs) have been approached by MonaVie distributors and solicited—in clear violation of Quixtar’s rules and putting those IBOs in potential violation of their contracts with Quixtar. But Quixtar IBOs know that the company vigilantly protects their businesses by enforcing the company’s non-compete and non-solicitation rules, thereby protecting IBOs’ hard work by not allowing others to raid their groups.

Quixtar reached out to MonaVie to make them aware of the actions of their distributors and to ask for their cooperation in enforcing their own policies and respecting Quixtar’s contracts. After initially agreeing to work with Quixtar to resolve these issues without reservation, on March 17 MonaVie filed a lawsuit, without warning, asking a U.S. District Court to find that it has not interfered with Quixtar’s contracts.

Quixtar filed suit to protect and defend IBO businesses. In addition, Quixtar’s complaint alleges unfair competition on the basis of false claims made by MonaVie and MonaVie distributors.

Quixtar takes line of sponsorship (LOS) issues very seriously because the LOS is the foundation of the Quixtar business. Any IBO who is solicited by anyone including former Quixtar IBOs—regarding another opportunity is encouraged to contact Quixtar at qbcr.department@quixtar.com.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Quixtar

Comments: 237 (Post a Comment)

March 10th, 2008 @ 1:00 pm ET…

Mis-leader

Terminated IBO Orrin Woodward’s recent decision to ask for contributions to his “legal defense fund” was such a low point that we cannot let it pass without comment.

Since his termination for unacceptable business practices last August, Mr. Woodward has done nothing but confirm, repeatedly, our decision to let him go.

We think that any objective person viewing the record would agree that:

• He has abused the legal system by filing multiple, frivolous lawsuits that have been dismissed with prejudice.
• He has abused business relationships of people he partnered with for more than a decade by repeatedly violating his contract commitments to respect the Line of Sponsorship of others.
• He has abused his fiduciary responsibilities to his trade association by inducing others to disgorge confidential information and violate court orders.

Now, true enough: in response to those abuses, we threw him out of the company, the IBOAI threw him out of their boardroom, and judges threw his cases out of court.

So why drag our dispute back out into the light?

Because we believe that Mr. Woodward now is using distortions and untruths to justify bad ethical decisions he made – and attempting to get others to pay for his own ill-conceived lawsuits and mistakes. He is putting his downlines at legal risk without telling them. And he is attempting to raid Quixtar organizations, in further violation of his contract.

We can’t tell people how to react to these behaviors, other than to advise our business owners to contact Rules or Sales immediately if there are approaches made to your groups.

But in the face of a new round of misrepresentations from Mr. Woodward, we can – yet again –set the record straight.

So we will.

Mis-leader, in court

The original dispute: We terminated Mr. Woodward in August 2007 after he repeatedly refused to clean up his abusive business practices. Well before his disciplinary meeting approached, Mr. Woodward had hired a big-ticket law firm and ordered them to draft a federal lawsuit. He then filed that lawsuit within hours of his termination.

Mr. Woodward claims filing a lawsuit accusing us of operating an illegal pyramid was a negotiating tactic, part of a spiritually motivated attempt to reconcile our differences. It would be more accurate to say it was a premeditated attack on our business model, designed to drive every IBO in the US out of business and into the arms of a new venture he was planning.

Mr. Woodward and his legal team then coordinated an astonishing blitz of more than one dozen lawsuits against our company filed across the country. The timing and language of the suits were nearly identical, Mr. Woodward’s associates seemed to know instantly about all of them, and the same attorneys seemed to showed up in case after case.

Mr. Woodward claims the blitz was a spontaneous, grass-roots uprising. How he can say that in the face of all evidence to the contrary is beyond belief. We’re sure his behind-the-scenes communications tell a very different story.

And Mr. Woodward fueled his litigation attack with confidential documents belonging to the IBOAI, a trade association where Mr. Woodward had been a board member. Mr. Woodward’s associates stonewalled court orders to return the documents, which did not belong to them, and which they had sworn – twice! – to keep confidential.

Mr. Woodward claims he had nothing to do with the documents. The fact is, it seems obvious his lawyers used those purloined documents to write their lawsuits. In fact, a judge has now held Woodward associate Billy Florence in contempt of court for violating a court order related to those documents.

The result: Mr. Woodward’s federal lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice. Most of the spam lawsuits have been dismissed or evaporated. (And a recent Georgia legal document circulating online was never entered. Therefore it does not carry legal force – a fact Mr. Woodward’s associates, unsurprisingly, failed to point out.) Instead, courts have ordered Mr. Woodward and his associates to abide by their contacts and arbitrate. Mr. Florence has defied a court of law. Mr. Woodward’s strategy of legal harassment and attack is failing, miserably and utterly.

Mr. Woodward is a businessman. He knows what contracts mean and why he signs them. He could have honored his contract, followed the rules that govern moving to a competitive business. But he chose not to play by the rules, chose to initiate this massive legal fight, chose to jeopardize the businesses of thousands of IBOs.

Mr. Woodward could still choose to pay for the fights he picked. To watch him leave his money in the bank – and ask others with less to foot the bill for his poor decisions – well, call it what you want, but just don’t call it “leadership.”

Mis-leader, in the field

And a final thought: When we choose to fight, we choose to fight to protect the businesses that Quixtar and our IBOs have built.

But when Mr. Woodward and his associates encouraged mass resignations from our company, they did so knowing they would devastate the businesses of a number of Quixtar business owners who refused to be bullied into following him.

When Mr. Woodward encouraged those resignations, he knew some those who did follow him would lose income when they left Quixtar, and that he had no way to replace that income for them. But that did not stop him from encouraging those same people to spend hundreds of dollars replacing his lost income at rallies in Louisville and St. Louis.

When Mr. Woodward encouraged people to follow him to a business with “Wal-Mart pricing”… and then instead abruptly threw in his lot with a company that offers only a handful of ultra-premium priced products… he knew he would lose more of the people who followed him once and for all.

And when Mr. Woodward permits forays into our sales groups, seeking to split more people away, he knows that he is encouraging people to break rules and court orders and put themselves at risk. Worse yet, he does so knowing he’s leading people down a path of promises that lead to disappointment.

Mr. Woodward would no doubt find some historical figure to justify his actions.

But we cannot.

Because when we look at Mr. Woodward’s actions over the past six months, all we see is a manipulative person, abusing the principles of values-driven leadership that our business tries to teach. Put plainly, his recent actions are enough to make all of us who care about helping people build businesses more committed than ever to protecting IBOs from this kind of malicious manipulation.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Alticor, Quixtar

Comments: 274 (Post a Comment)

February 8th, 2008 @ 11:24 pm ET…

Nitro: Case dismissed

Happy to report to you that the Nitro case in Missouri has been dismissed by a federal judge.

The ruling itself is under seal at this point, so we can’t discuss or quote the specific findings and conclusions — at least, not yet.

But the fact that the case has been dismissed is a matter of public record. So we decided to share the news because this was one of those cases where the trial lawyers on the other side made sliming us publicly part of their legal strategy. It’s a terribly cynical approach, designed to intimidate the company and shake the confidence of our business owners.

No surprise that the losing trial lawyers were from Shughart Thomson & Kilroy — the same people who launched last year’s failed TEAM California lawsuit with a barrage of press releases and bluster, and then watched a judge dismiss that case as well. At this point, the firm’s credibility in speaking about our company matches their record of success in court.

We’re angry at the way they attempted to rattle our friends who are out there every night building Quixtar businesses. We’re pleased that the judge saw their case had no merit.

There was also a ruling this week in a separate case, known as Morrison, where an appeals court reversed and remanded an earlier lower court ruling. It’s the latest step in a long, long fight that we remain confident of winning. The ruling does not say that Morrison is right about any of his claims. It only says that he gets a do-over of the arbitration he lost in 2004.

And another important point: Contrary to some of the spinners out there, the ruling hinges on the fact that the dispute is so very old—beginning before 1998, before we even had an arbitration program. Therefore, the effect of this ruling on our current arbitration program and current cases (a shrinking list, given the Nitro dismissal) is virtually zero. If someone’s telling you otherwise, don’t buy the hype.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Alticor, Amway, Quixtar, Transformation

Comments: 165 (Post a Comment)

February 7th, 2008 @ 8:00 am ET…

Please be advised

…of a bogus internet charity scam claiming to be the “Amway Children Charity Foundation.” Read the despicable details on the Amway Media Blog.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Amway

February 6th, 2008 @ 8:45 am ET…

Bigger and better

Our sales figures for 2007 are out. By the numbers:

• we posted $7.1 billion in sales—12 percent more than we made in 2006;
• 39 out of our 55 Amway markets—emerging and established alike—posted sales increases, with impressive results in Asia, Europe and Latin America; and
• it was another billion-dollar year for Quixtar in North America.*

Our direct selling license in China certainly bolstered sales, while our largest overall regional gains came from Europe. And in Latin America, we saw a remarkable 30 percent sales increase as a result of our transformation efforts.

Also of interest: a growing list of celebrities and athletes continues to endorse our products. In non-direct selling news, our wireless charging technology called eCoupled was granted 20 new patents in 2007 alone. And, we opened the ultra-luxurious JW Marriott Grand Rapids, one of only 36 in the world.

One final number: 50. Yes, Amway turns 50 in 2009. The next 50 promise to be just as big, and better than ever.

* Quixtar will share sales specifics in the coming days.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Access Business Group, Alticor, Amway, Artistry, Fulton Innovation, Grand Rapids, Hotels, Innovation, JW Marriott Grand Rapids, Nutrilite, Product Lines, Quixtar, Sponsorships, Transformation, eCoupled

Comments: 70 (Post a Comment)

January 25th, 2008 @ 4:00 pm ET…

While we were out

It’s been quiet here lately. Not uneventful—just quiet.

And we apologize if seems we stayed quiet too long. It wasn’t intentional.

There were no big breaking news headlines to bring to you. And there was also at least a little fatigue after months of heated—and healthy—debate on this site. Our friend AMBA even ended up with his arm in a sling.

But we are back, and we will be back more often in weeks to come. For now, let’s catch up on a couple of things.

TEAM: Many of the disputes that occupied this space over the past few months are now in arbitration. Good to see our commitment to arbitration supported by so many courts.

NEVADA: One thing we can mention: As noted in an earlier post, we are pursuing a lawsuit against TEAM in Nevada, the state where the company is incorporated. We think they have a lot to answer for, including their violation of Quixtar’s rights to its LOS. What they are mostly doing in response is trying to wiggle out of answering questions about their plans to harm Quixtar business owners. They can’t wiggle forever.

TEXAS: We noted earlier that we cleaned up in most of the (too many) cases in Texas. More recently, a federal magistrate dissolved a preliminary injunction that had been granted to our friend and correspondent Ron Simmons. Seemed right to us. This case will also now go into arbitration.

But the news in North America isn’t all about conflict — not by a long stretch. ELSEWHERE IN NORTH AMERICA, we:

• introduced two new products lines—Simply Nutrilite and Artistry essentials—with ad campaigns;
• rolled out a historic $60 million in QBI and offered new benefits like free shipping;
• unveiled Quixtar University with an ever-expanding roster of online courses;
• redesigned the Quixtar website; and
• launched a webcast series to update our IBOs on our transition from Quixtar to Amway Global.

The Opportunity Zone, which turns 1 next week, makes for great conversation on the business.

UK: Closing arguments in the UK trial ended December 8. The court may rule anytime. However, out of respect for the court and British legal custom we will not comment on the case until the judge issues his ruling.

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD, we are wrapping up a good fiscal year, and looking forward to sharing the news in a few weeks.

We’re sure there’s more. We’ll be in touch.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Alticor, Amway, Quixtar, Transformation

Comments: 137 (Post a Comment)

November 9th, 2007 @ 2:59 pm ET…

Why we fight, part 2

…is over on the Amway Media Blog today.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Alticor, Amway, Transformation

November 8th, 2007 @ 9:08 am ET…

Simply Quixtar

The key to an effective website (so says our trusty blog administrator) is a clean design that is easy to use.

Our colleagues at Quixtar would agree. We hope our North American customers will, as well.

And for you Web 2.0 nuts, Code Review is a great blog to weigh in on Quixtar’s redesign. More AJAX than L.O.C.—which, according to our blog admin, is supposed to be funny.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Artistry, Innovation, Nutrilite, Quixtar

Comments: 147 (Post a Comment)

October 24th, 2007 @ 8:45 pm ET…

Why we fight, part 1

After being on the defensive for 20 straight legal attacks, we filed suit yesterday against the corporation that owns TEAM.

We filed suit because the single legal case we brought (and won) in this matter listed Orrin Woodward as a defendant—but Woodward then claimed to have magically disappeared as the manager of TEAM before the case was heard. (A legal trick like that is like pretending Rich and Jay have nothing to do with our company—but never mind. We’ll straighten it out.)

We filed suit because TEAM has had multiple chances to play by the rules in this dispute, but have gambled that they do not have to play by them. They have interfered with non-compete agreements. They have interfered with non-solicitation agreements. They refuse to arbitrate.

But most of all, we are filing suit because TEAM has taken proprietary business information from Quixtar that IBOs could be using right now to build Quixtar businesses.

If you leave your place of work today, you would leave behind your tools and information so that those who remain can carry on the business. You can’t help yourself to your computer, the stapler, the coffeemaker—or the company’s customer list.

That is ethically and morally wrong. It is also legally wrong. And that’s why we filed suit.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Alticor, Amway, Quixtar, Transformation

Comments: 959 (Post a Comment)

October 17th, 2007 @ 10:22 pm ET…

One motion, one meeting

We were back in court in Grand Rapids today, seeking a contempt motion that would have halted a planned TEAM meeting in Louisville.

We don’t have the ruling yet—we’ll post it when we do—but the judge said he would not stop the meeting.

Not what we wanted to hear.

But it was one motion, and one meeting.

Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady are still under injunction.

The TEAM leaders we terminated still have a contract to honor.

Their California lawsuit, with its outrageous claims, is still gone for good.

They still have liability for the people and businesses they hurt.

And they still must arbitrate to settle this dispute.

We will prove these claims in arbitration.

That’s fine by us. Because the facts, the law and common sense are still on our side.

Filed by: Corporate Communications

Posted in: Alticor, Amway, Quixtar, Transformation

Comments: 480 (Post a Comment)

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