Melaleuca Sues Max International
12/4/2009
Melaleuca has apparently filed suit in Federal court against Max International and its top sales executives and several former Melaleuca reps.
According to the Idaho Business Review:
Idaho health and home products company Melaleuca Inc. accuses a Utah company of raiding some of its top sales staff, infringing on company trade secrets and competing unfairly.
Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca filed a lawsuit in federal court Nov. 16 against Max International, its top sales executive and dozens of former Melaleuca sales executives.
The complaint seeks more than $10 million in damages and asks a judge to issue an injunction that would stop future sales staff raids. The lawsuit also seeks to cancel a meeting scheduled for Nov. 21 that’s described as another attempt by Max International to lure away top Melaleuca sales talent and their customer data …
The lawsuit accuses Max of attracting at least eight of Melaleuca’s best sales staff in the last year and encouraging each to recruit Melaleuca customers, sales staff and others …
The lawsuit accuses Max of luring Melaleuca sales staff with lucrative payments and using information from those Melaleuca business reports, causing former Melaleuca employees to violate noncompete agreements that are designed to prevent workers from using inside knowledge to benefit a direct competitor.
The lawsuit accuses Max of attracting at least eight of Melaleuca’s best sales staff in the last year and encouraging each to recruit Melaleuca customers, sales staff and others.
Melaleuca is asking for a jury trial and for a judge to issue a restraining order barring Max from recruiting more Melaleuca sales staff. It also seeks a restraining order on a sales presentation planned by Max on Nov. 21 in Atlanta because it “promises to be another unlawful raid of Melaleuca marketing executives.”