AdvoCare

July 2019: A federal judge dismissed plaintiffs’ RICO allegations. To read the full decision, click here. Later in July, plaintiffs amended their complaint to similarly allege that Advocare operated a pyramid scheme prior to July 2019.

October 2018: The claims against the six distributor defendants were dismissed with prejudice because they were not named in the amended complaint.

September 2018: Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint similarly alleging that Advocare operates a pyramid scheme in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), and seeking a declaratory judgment declaring the arbitration provision in their contracts unenforceable.

January 2018: A federal judge lifted the stay and reopened the case after an arbitrator determined that the claims were not arbitrable.

November 2017: This case was administratively closed pending the outcome of arbitration.

June 2017: This action was stayed pending arbitration.

March 2017: A class-action lawsuit was filed against AdvoCare, as well as six top distributors of the company, for allegedly operating a pyramid scheme and luring distributors into the scheme by telling them that they can achieve financial success with AdvoCare. According to the complaint, however, the vast majority of AdvoCare distributors – at least 95% — lose money. To learn more about the allegations, click here. (Ranieri et al v. AdvoCare International, L.P., et al, Case No. 17-cv-691, N.D. Tex.)

For more of TINA.org’s coverage of AdvoCare, click here.