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September 20, 2005
Judge Halts Quixtar Arbitration
By QBlog in Arbitration
Last Friday (Sept. 16) a Missouri Federal Judge denied Quixtar's motion to compel the infamous "Nitro Lawsuit" to arbitration. The ruling by District Court Judge Richard E. Dorr could have long-term repercussions for Quixtar by jeopardizing its ironclad Arbitration Process.
Judge Dorr's 26-page decision (pdf) is a lot to digest but it's well worth the effort and doesn't disappoint. For those with shorter attention spans, the lawBlawg provides a few highlights from the order. What I found most interesting begins on page 23 (pdf):
It is this Court's opinion that the procedure utilized by Defendants to screen, train and ultimately hand-pick their panel of arbitrators does not come close to passing any reasonable test of fairness and neutrality required for a legitimate arbitration proceeding.
Ouch! I bet Jody Victor wishes he'd been told that tape was running.
UPDATE: The Kansas City Star reports »
The ruling permits the case, which charges that Amway conspired to freeze out lower-level distributors in its motivational business, to go forward in federal court.
"Obviously it's a huge ruling," said one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, Dan Boulware of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy. "It has significance nationwide and huge consequences."
Boulware said that keeping the case out of arbitration was important because "no one wins in that forum with Amway and we certainly weren't going to."
UPDATE 2: The Grand Rapids Press reports »
The lawsuit alleges Quixtar helped these distributors monopolize the BSM business, cutting others out of potential profits. It also said Amway and its distributors misrepresent the true earnings potential of being an IBO because top earners are reliant on BSM income, which most IBOs are not eligible to collect.
The "kingpins," with Quixtar's help, also required their "downline" network to buy their materials and attend their functions or risk being blackballed from the "pyramid," the lawsuit alleges.
Comments
I'm curious to know if any of the pro-quixtar folks have anything to say about this.
It's about time. I can't believe it took this long for a judge to see the obvious conflict of interest.
Unconscionable is right.
Looks like the pro's have NOTHING to say about this!
Howdy Lisa,
PRO guy here.
My only comments were made at Lawblawg and were questions rather than comments.
What would you like the "pros" to do?
IMO, Arbitration is a valid process, and works well within certain cases.
But, I always objected to just having one company handle the arbitration. Personally I feel there should be a "pool", of course if I had my way Patrick Stewart would be my arbitrator.
If he's good enough for Gowron and Worf, he's good nuff for me. ;)
K'plah
Dave
Howdy David,
You seem to be an exception to the majority of IBO's in the way that go about running your Quixtar business so it's seems unlikely you would ever find yourself in Brig Harts position.
Maybe I should have said bots not Pros?
Agree about Patrick Stewart. Very sexy voice! Drool
Dave's a Trekkie, awesome! Bit a fan myself. I agree with Dave, but have never really been concerned with it, since like Lisa said, I don't ever plan on needing it. Not sure if there's any 'bots on here Lisa, besides some Critbots. I guess I am an exception too since I don't force people to buy CD's and I focus effort on retailing too. But that's what most IBOs I have contact are like.
Plus I watched Lost and Invasion last night too, but that was after I met with a friend of mine, brand new guy on my team. And I managed to read for 20 minutes. I guess some IBO's can do the business And have a balanced life.
aww Tony, bless your heart. I was an IBO with no life but I thought I had the best life going at that time!
Tony> Plus I watched Lost and Invasion last night too, but that was after I met with a friend of mine, brand new guy on my team. And I managed to read for 20 minutes. I guess some IBO's can do the business And have a balanced life.
Joe> I am also a big fan of Lost. I was able to see some of the actors as they had a premiere showing in Waikiki last week.
Sweet, you live in Honolulu, right? Anywhere near the base? Hows the weather there right now. Does it get real hot in the summer? What about in the winter?
So is the whole series filmed in Waikiki. Can't wait til next week, I wanna see why that guys on the island, the one from the stadium. You think he's an alien or an angel? Or some government employee. I didn't see All of last season, but there's a reason why they were all wrecked on that island. Kinda weird. Especially John Lock being able to walk now. Whats That about?
Oh, and Lisa you sound like you were an Ambot, and probably Didn't have a life.
See I still do Tae Kwon Do, still hang out with non-IBO friends and family, go to Friday-night football games, watch some TV, still go to movies, company parties with my job, etc.
See you can go to Opens once a week, make some calls during the week, set-up some meetings, show some plans, do some reading each night and still do all those other things I mentioned above. I call that a pretty balanced life.
I don't sit in a dark house all weekend listening to tapes and reading books, or aimlessly wondering malls. That's kind of the stereotype on here, cause thats maybe what some of You did. But not me, so keep your assumptions for someone else.
Tony> Sweet, you live in Honolulu, right? Anywhere near the base? Hows the weather there right now. Does it get real hot in the summer? What about in the winter?
So is the whole series filmed in Waikiki. Can't wait til next week, I wanna see why that guys on the island, the one from the stadium. You think he's an alien or an angel? Or some government employee. I didn't see All of last season, but there's a reason why they were all wrecked on that island. Kinda weird. Especially John Lock being able to walk now. Whats That about?
Joe> Actually Tony, they don't film too much in Waikiki. There's a studio on Honolulu where they film the cave and the hatch scenes (I believe). They film the jungle areas in some rural areas. If you ever saw some of the scenes where there are mountains in the backdrop, those scenes were filmed in the same area where Jurassic Park was filmed. It's a private ranch. They hold paintball games and they have horseriding there when they aren't filming. Also, all of the airport scenes are shot at the Hawaii convention center, not at the airport. Too bad I didn't get to see Maggie Grace (Shannon) in person. She's hot!
Oh, and Lisa you sound like you were an Ambot, and probably Didn't have a life.
See I still do Tae Kwon Do, still hang out with non-IBO friends and family, go to Friday-night football games, watch some TV, still go to movies, company parties with my job, etc.
See you can go to Opens once a week, make some calls during the week, set-up some meetings, show some plans, do some reading each night and still do all those other things I mentioned above. I call that a pretty balanced life.
..............................................................
Yeah I did other stuff too. Was still an ambot though and I'm not assumming anything.
I can't really get into "Lost".
I'm curious since I'm not an American, although I am a North American, does this now become case law?
Do other people who find themselves in this type of situation get to refer to this from now on?
I see I'm a day late and a buck short here, but hopefully someone will check back.
Tony> See you can go to Opens once a week, make some calls during the week, set-up some meetings, show some plans, do some reading each night and still do all those other things I mentioned above. I call that a pretty balanced life.
I don't sit in a dark house all weekend listening to tapes and reading books, or aimlessly wondering malls. That's kind of the stereotype on here, cause thats maybe what some of You did. But not me, so keep your assumptions for someone else.
DI> Tony, and in other posts you claimed that you "weren't building the business enough" and that you were going to devote more time to the business. You also used that fact as an excuse for your pathetic (lack of an) income. So Tony, the question is: can an average person have your "balanced life" and make good money with this business? According to Quixtar, no, since the average income is $115 per month. According to yourself, the answer is "no", as well. The other question is: can an average person make more than minimum wage in this business? If you devote more time to recruit more people to make more money, your returns are still a function of the time you put in.
my experience as an ibo.. in quixstar.
I joined as an independent business owner
so I thought.It was actually a"legal"pyramid
sceme.Yes I was oppressed by I what I been thru.God delivered me/freed me from
this business.My life was in shambles my marriage on the brink possible divorce.They teach their "team members " by using "tools" tapes/books home meetings seminars open meetings/hotels etc.They train their "downline" how to speak, what to speak, when to speak, why to speak in hope that they trap/recruit decieve sometimes unknowingly starting with their family,then friends after that "cold contacts"to build your business,they really mean there business.
He will come to you as an angel of light.
Wake up people. Satan is making alter calls at Quixtar conferences at your souls expense.
Our Creator is not a lair and doesn't cause confusion.
Grace and Peace
Pat
Hopefully this will be accepted by all states
Posted by: another IBO | September 20, 2005 7:12 PM