MLM WATCHDOG
Termination - Case Law
Other TERMINATION Reports
Hi Rod,
Good to hear from you. We'd appreciate that schedule for Vegas. This case was actually in Federal Court in Littlerock, AR. United States Court of Appeals - eighth circuit. You can go to . http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/tmp/012248.html to check it out.
Basically, the appeals court (3 judge panel) ruled, and our attorney says Life Plus will probably appeal to an 8 judge panel who will review what the 3 judge panel ruled on. She said it would just take a few weeks. Then they can always appeal after that to the supreme court.... Yes, this doesn't make much sense, there's virtually no chance it would go to the supreme court... but it would just tie it up for a much longer time. And they love dragging it out. However, since losing the appeal, they will have to pay our attorneys fees for the whole appeal process so you'd think they would want to put an end to it. Go figure.... these guys are unbelievable!
Thanks for your interest Rod. Keep in touch.
Wayne & Fran
LIFE PLUS LOSES TERMINATION APPEAL
18 Jan 2003 - Life Plus terminated Wayne and Fran Brown. The Browns sued and won, plus collected punitive damages against Life Plus. Life Plus appealed and just lost > GREAT!
Life Plus terminated the Browns resulting in the case "Life Plus International vs. Wayne Brown, Fran Brown" Well, at the end of the trial, the jury awarded Fran Brown $245,000. including $180,000 in punitive damages. That was in May 2001. Life Plus proceeded to appeal that verdict. On Wednesday, January 15th the United States Court of Appeals upheld that verdict. Yes, Life Plus lost that appeal. Of course, we are sure they will appeal again..... anything to drag it out and rack up more attorneys fees, but this is very good news not only for us, but for anyone else who may be now or in the future involved in a lawsuit with Life Plus or any other network marketing company.
In the appeal, Life Plus argued that the punitive damages of $180,000 was excessive. This is quoted directly from the appeals court opinion filed on Jan. 15th, 2003..."The undisputed evidence shows that Life Plus withheld more than $11,000 in checks from Fran. On this evidence, a punitive damages award of $180,000 was not unreasonable, and no miscarriage of justice occurred. See Routh Wrecker Serv., Inc. v. Washington, 980 S.W.2d 240, 242 (Ark.1998) (concluding that a ratio of punitive to compensatory damages of 75 to 1 was not grossly excessive because it was well below the 500 to 1 ratio approved by the Supreme Court in BMW of N. Am. v. Gore, 517 U>S> 559 (1996))."
Looks like Life Plus was lucky to only get $180,000 in punitive damages. Remember what punitive damages means....... it's to punish the guilty party. Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone who might be interested....and if you have questions, give us a call anytime!
Wayne & Fran Brown
760-343-3393
Other TERMINATION Reports
Please Take A Moment To Sign Our Guest Book:
The contents of the MLM WatchDog are editorial in nature
and protected by First Amendment rights.
This site is partially supported by donations from paid subscribers, donations by 3rd partties and donations from America's MLM Consultants
the worlds leading MLM consultants for Network Marketing, Party Plans and MLM
MLM Watchdog(tm) ~ All Rights Reserved
