Univera Lawsuit: Company Sued By Former Top Distributors
Posted on 25. Jun, 2009 by Ty Tribble in Univera, Univera LifeSciences
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DENVER, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- It's a lawsuit that may help determine "who owns who" in the world of multi-level marketing. According to John Terhune, one of the plaintiffs who filed suit in state court in Volusia County, Florida, today, "The last thing we wanted to do was get involved in litigation. All we wanted to do was build businesses and help others do the same."
Terhune, along with former Univera leaders Marshall Douglas and Joe Land, are former distributors of Univera who have joined together in a lawsuit alleging the company has bullied its associates with threats of litigation and economic ruin if their sales networks move to a competitor. The filing comes on the heels of two actions Univera filed against them in Seattle earlier this year.
Terhune and his fellow plaintiffs spent years building their multi-level marketing network into a thriving family business. As a distributor of Univera products, Terhune, Douglas, and Land managed a vast network of associates, many of whom they personally recruited. For several years all three enjoyed a great relationship with Washington state-based Univera, a company known for its popular dietary supplements. Univera recognized Terhune as its Associate of the Year in 2007 and bestowed the Yun Ho Lee Award, Univera's most prestigious leadership and sales award, on Terhune in 2008.
But in 2007, poor management decisions destroyed what had been a promising business opportunity. Univera sacked its flagship product, Ageless Xtra, and replaced it with a "fizzy" liquid supplement called Xperia. The new product, quickly developed a reputation for "exploding" in its packaging and arriving in "soaked boxes." During the same time, the company swapped out its computer platform with great fanfare. It turned out to be a disaster. The new internet applications failed and a flood of customer complaints soon overwhelmed the Univera system. Customers, associates, and profits began to disappear.
In the span of just a few months, Univera squandered years of its associates' hard work and goodwill. Terhune, Douglas and Land had had enough. They transferred their remaining Univera business to their spouses, and began building a new network with another company.
Univera retaliated, accusing them of "getting rich" by "stealing" other people's groups. The company threatened to sue its associates if they followed the departing leaders into their new business venture, even though Univera's policies do not prohibit their associates from choosing to pursue a new business opportunity. Ironically, Univera has used the very same tactics it now decries. Terhune, Douglas and Land and other former Univera associates had previously built thriving networks with Amway. Univera aggressively recruited Land and others from Amway, along with key members of or their entire MLM networks, which is precisely the behavior it now criticizes.
Now, faced with Univera's threats of crushing litigation, Terhune and others are pushing back, making a stand for free markets and fair competition. Terhune and his fellow plaintiffs have brought claims for breach of contract, tortious interference with business relations, defamation, unfair competition, and inequitable retention of plaintiffs' businesses.
A copy of the complaint can be obtained by contacting plaintiffs' counsel, D.J. Poyfair, at (303) 764-4099 or by contacting the Clerk of the Court for the Seventh Judicial Circuit in Volusia County, Florida.
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11 Responses to “Univera Lawsuit: Company Sued By Former Top Distributors”
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Matt Sterba
26. Jun, 2009
Instead of listening to it's top associates with decades of experience, Univera hired a consulting firm who knew absolutely nothing and they drove Univera LifeSciences off of a cliff. If this was almost any other company they would have completely gone under. The only thing that saved Univera is that it's owner (Bill Lee) is a multi-Billionaire (one of the richest men in South Korea). Their product Xperia was one of the worst things that I have ever tasted. They do however, have a great compensation plan, but what does that matter if the rest of your business cannot function. They are doing less volume now than they were four years ago.
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johnny vinson
29. Jun, 2009
i total agree with the action's of john Terhune,marshall Douglas and joe Land. why stay with company that dosent care about its ibo's. and the company almost crashed. thay total screwed the pay plan,products and team website. they did a good job of shutting down the team website.the product and pay was always late. you had nothing to work with. i wish much success to john Terhune, marshall Douglas and joe Land. build it big…
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Annon
30. Jun, 2009
So why did it take Terhune, Douglas and Land two years to figure this out?
Was Univera paying them extra money to stay before?
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pimpgamers@gmail.com
04. Jul, 2009
Obviously, this description sounds bias and is posted to discredit Univera. I'm not doubting that some of the events happened. I would just like to hear the facts from both sides.
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Shaun
04. Jan, 2010
I’ve met and spoken with these three men and have a
great deal of respect for each of them, though I would doubt they’d remember me. To make their argument stronger, they have left out several key elements. In the beginning there was John Terhune, who had a consulting company, and made efforts to sell his tools to Univera/Oasis. He was in communication with a distributor / associate from the company and was so impressed by the science and direction the company was heading in that he came on board( bringing in Marshal and Joe). True, the company did have growing pains, (to say the least) like all companies do. Unfortunately, once the damage was done, it was too late. What you won’t here John say is that the company took it upon itself to match every distributor / associates monthly bonus check for three consecutive months, everyone’s, in an attempt to right a wrong. Since then the company has also brought in for consultation purposes a group of top associates known at the Field Leadership Commission to work hand in hand with corporate in order to do what is best for the associates and the customers. They’ve also turned a good compensation plan in the best comp plan I’ve been able to research to date. One last thing, John ( so I’ve been told) was offered a large 5-digit monthly contract to move over to a new company. Unfortunately, some will do whatever it takes to make the almighty buck. Many friendships were broke, many lies told, I hope John, Marshall and Joe realize what they gave up.
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Ty Tribble Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Shaun, I was the fastest Platinum in the history or Univera. Univera had growing pains? They had a virtual meltdown from a corporate perspective. I could not sponsor a single person or enroll a customer for six months because I had no idea if they would even get products. If Univera had their act together, no one (including me) would have left.
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Daniel Petrucelli
04. Jan, 2010
This is certainly an amazing industry we are in. And it does say alot about planning ahead. You can not build a $800,000 like you do a $1,000,000 company and you can not build a $100,000,000 million dollar company in like fashion.
Pays to keep an eye on how they start going from CEO to putting boards in place etc,etc.
Daniel
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Scott
05. Jan, 2010
I Think there are many half truths when I read the comments from many leaders in the industry I agree with both Shaun and to a lesser degree what Ty said to about Univera and the question that keeps coming up is when I had the chance to talk to both John , Marshall and Derek Hall how they were so convincing that Univera was the most life changing company they had the privilage to be part of in there entire mlm careers. Which they stated before and after the corporate hiccup and then decided to jump ship again I guess if we take and look at peoples track record how many companies have they actually been loyal to and how many times they make changes. it paints a picture for the value of thier words and honesty. i worked for a company in the mid 80’s that i was told would never survive and i should jump ship I was actually bagging apples and potatoes when i first started working for them and when i left 15 years later they were the most successful wharehouse chain in there industry many of my friends are 30 year employees today and Costco have over 500 stores worls wide today. loyalty does payoff and i believe it is something missing in the mlm industry.One thing i will say about Univera from the owner to corporate they are Honest and Honorable and take accountabilty for their mistakes and make sure they learn from them to make sure it will not happen again. Which is why they growing so fast in this economy.
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Ty Tribble Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Univera hasn’t even sniffed the volume that they were doing before they imploded. Costco is a well run company. Univera is run by the idea of the month. Big difference.
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Taylor Reply:
February 26th, 2010 at 7:31 am
Univera is the most amazing company I have EVER come across. I have never been involved in a company that treats their associates and employees in the reputable way Univera does. No company is going to be perfect but like Scott said, they are honest and honorable and take accountability for their mistakes and make sure they learn from them so they will not happen again. The comp plan is incredible and more importantly the products are absolutely life changing. It is a privilege to be a part of what Bill Lee and Univera are doing for this world. Lets look forward…..
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Ty Tribble Reply:
February 26th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Univera’s volume today is a fraction of what they used to be…all a result of corporate mis-management that includes Bill Lee. Most if their products contain Sodium Benzoate, a preservative that Coca-Cola has stopped using because of the controversy behind it. They were not honest and upfront about the problems and they basically did not answer the phone for nearly 6 months. The company is literally 40 minutes from my home and I wouldn’t touch them for a million bucks.