Fred Harteis Removes Himself From Lawsuit

Here is a new report about Fred Harteis. It is apparent that the TEAM is in over their head. Leaders are already splintering off in different directions.

A Lower Paxton Twp. man says his inclusion as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against multilevel marketing firm Quixtar Inc. was "an error," and he has been removed from the legal action.

Fred Harteis, president of Harteis International at 7955 Jonestown Road, said yesterday through a spokeswoman that he remains a distributor for Quixtar, a corporate cousin of the better-known Amway Corp. of Ada, Mich.

The lawsuit contends that Quixtar is an illegal pyramid scheme, violating rules set by the Federal Trade Commission after previous litigation involving Amway.

Here is what TEAM had to say about Fred's move:

Statement from Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy Regarding Plaintiff Fred Harteis:

Fred Harteis was involved in many conversations with us in the previous weeks concerning the state of the current Quixtar business, the pricing of its products, and Quixtar's coming transformation. On Friday, after we filed our Complaint, Fred's attorney notified us that Fred would not participate. Therefore, Fred is no longer a plaintiff in this lawsuit. We respect Fred's right to decide what he thinks is best for his family and business.

Quixtar Raising Prices-Not Quite What Team Wanted

from Amway Facts:

Quixtar.com today posted an update (reproduced below) about some changes coming in the near future. In the context of some of TEAM's complaints about wanting price decreases ... well, it's quite interesting reading. In summary -

one discount available - case purchases - is being removed.
most products will remain the same price, only a few will increase
shipping rates will increase!
the new product lines will be Simply Nutrilite™ foods for people on the go who care about their health and Artistry® Essentials, a natural colour cosmetics line
So, in contrast to TEAM's desire to have prices drop, they're staying the same or going up. TEAM wanted products to compete with WalMart, instead Quixtar is introducing more Nutrilite and Artistry products - premium quality brands.

TEAM Promotes Website

A press release by TEAM earlier today promotes a website www.freetheibo.com.

Jody Victor Jumps Ship Together Fred Harteis. Whos next?

Jody Victor Jumps Ship Together With Fred Harteis-No Longer With TEAM

Jody Victor is listed as the Chairman of the Oversight Committee and Chairman of the Hearing and Dispute Committee and thereby verifies the complain against Woodward, Brady, Wilson, Florence and co.

Here is a copy of the Restraining Order filed against the TEAM and other leaders including Don Wilson and Billy Florence by the IBOAI.

Download IBOAI.Complaint.pdf from mlmblog.net

Alticor fires 15 Quixtar distributors who sued

Alticor fires 15 Quixtar distributors who sued
Posted by The Grand Rapids Press August 13, 2007 16:15PM
Categories: Breaking News

ADA TOWNSHIP -- Alticor Inc. has fired 15 long-term and highly influential Quixtar distributors who filed a class-action lawsuit against the direct sales giant last week.

The ramifications of the dust-up for the Ada-based parent company of Amway could be huge -- especially as the company faces increased regulatory pressure in India and the United Kingdom.

Seventeen distributors are named as plaintiffs in a scathing suit that says Quixtar operates as a pyramid scheme selling merchandise at prices so inflated it cannot be sold to anyone other than distributors.

The suit asks the court to relieve the plaintiffs from six-month non-compete clauses. The suit does not ask for monetary damages.

Such an exodus among Quixtar's upper echelon could prove costly. Quixtar said it generated $1.1 billion of Alticor's $6.3 billion in sales during 2006.

Together, the plaintiffs seeking to leave Quixtar represent about 40 percent of the company's U.S. business, said D.J. Poyfair, an attorney representing the distributors.

The situation is the first domestic public dust-up since promises Alticor made in June to reform its business as it readopts the Amway name over the next 18 to 24 months.

Quixtar is the name Alticor gave what had been its Amway direct sales operation in the United States. The company is owned by the families of its co-founders, Rich DeVos and the late Jay Van Andel.

The suit is led by Orrin Woodward, of Grand Blanc, a co-founder of Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM), a group of Quixtar distributors.

The suit alleges the company knowingly operates as a pyramid scheme by focusing on selling overpriced products only to its distributors, known as Independent Business Owners, or IBOs.

Quixtar said it was unsuccessful trying to work with TEAM leaders to "correct issues related to Team's teaching of inappropriate business-building tactics, improper positioning of the opportunity and use of unauthorized support materials."

Alticor's media blog singled out Woodward, who has been known to draw thousands of IBOs to motivational rallies, as a "poster child for a long list of bad business practices that critics hate about our company."

www.Mlive.com

Quixtar Releases Own Press Release About Termination

Here is a press release by Quixtar about the Team Termination and Quixtar Team Lawsuit:

ADA, Mich., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Quixtar Inc. announced this morning the termination of 15 independent businesses as a result of actions detrimental to the company's North American operations. The businesses affected were part of the Team training organization or other training organizations using Team's training materials and named as co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by Team's founders against Quixtar yesterday.

Quixtar was working with Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady, founders of the Team training organization, to correct issues related to Team's teaching of inappropriate business-building tactics, improper positioning of the opportunity, and use of unauthorized support materials. These teachings placed themselves, affiliated Independent Business Owners (IBOs), and Quixtar at serious and immediate risk of legal and regulatory actions and had to be stopped.

Woodward and Brady refused to work with the company to return Team to compliance with Quixtar's rules, stated their intentions of starting a new company in competition with Quixtar, and filed a lawsuit against the company seeking relief from their non-compete requirements. The lawsuit is filled with outrageous claims and statements and will be defended vigorously by the corporation.

Due to their refusal to correct their business practices, Quixtar terminated the independent businesses of Woodward and Brady as well as those who joined them as plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, filed in a California district court yesterday. A Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Order of Injunction was sought by the company and granted today in a Michigan district court, preventing Woodward and Brady from interfering with the Quixtar Line of Sponsorship (LOS), soliciting IBOs for another business opportunity, disparaging Quixtar and damaging its reputation, and requiring them to return to Quixtar its proprietary and confidential LOS data.

Additional co-plaintiffs whose Quixtar independent businesses were terminated include Billy Florence, Don Wilson, Randy Haugen, Chuck Goetschel, Tim Marks, Kirk Birtles, James Martin, Aron Radosa, David Brandy, Benjamin Dickie, Bruce Gilbank, Michael Martenson, and Chuck Cullen.

Incidentally, the law firm representing the plaintiffs is the same firm involved in several other frivolous lawsuits against Quixtar and IBOs.

Quixtar remains committed to the support of all IBOs and will work with those who agree to abide by the company's rules and maintain high ethical standards. In fact, the company has announced many improvements to further enhance its business, including more than $200 million in investments in product development, brand building, training, and compensation enhancements.

Commentary from the company is being provided at the Alticor Media Blog [http://media.alticorblogs.com/] and Quixtar is actively reaching out to IBOs who were in the Team training organization and other organizations affected by these terminations to restate our commitment to supporting their independent businesses.

About Quixtar

Quixtar Inc. offers a business opportunity that allows people to have a business of their own based on retailing products and sharing the opportunity with others who will do the same. Quixtar supports Independent Business Owners (IBOs) with a proven compensation plan, portfolios of quality products in health, beauty, and other consumer categories, plus the merchandising materials, training, and education they need to be successful. IBOs also are supported by communities of those who have succeeded in Quixtar businesses before them.

Since 1999, Quixtar IBOs have generated $6.8 billion in sales through Quixtar.com, plus more than $500 million for Quixtar Partner Stores. These sales have earned IBOs more than $2.2 billion in bonuses through the Quixtar(R) Independent Business Owner Compensation Plan plus other incentives. Their efforts have propelled Quixtar to be ranked the #1 online Health & Beauty retailer based on sales, and 22nd among all e-commerce sites, according to Internet Retailer magazine.

A subsidiary of Alticor Inc., Quixtar supports independent businesses in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and various trust territories and independent island nations in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and Caribbean Sea.

SOURCE Quixtar Inc.

Team; Their Side Of the Story

From www.team_orrin_woodward.typepad.com
Orrin Woodward Resigns from Quixtar!

Team,

Today, August 9th, 2007, eight current members of the IBOAI board from North America, representing a combined average experience of twenty seven years in the business, approached Quixtar/Alticor to express deep concern with the current condition of the Quixtar business. For years, we’ve all been concerned that Quixtar’s products have been hopelessly overpriced and were virtually not retailable. Quixtar has known this, too, because over the last few years we have repeatedly informed them of this fact and have literally begged them to correct the problem. They did nothing, which is not particularly surprising given the ridiculously high profit margins required by families who own the businesses.

When we realized that our pleas had no hope of succeeding, we decided the cover-up needed to stop. Consistent with the principles of promoting fair competition and with commitment to the free enterprise system, we expressed our opinion that it would be only fair for Quixtar/Alticor to roll back its non-competition and non-solicitation rules and give all IBOs a choice to continue their participation in the business. Our position is simple: People should have a choice about whether to stay with Quixtar/Amway or leave for another opportunity. In response to our request, Amway/Quixtar snickered and immediately rejected our proposal.

As a result of this discussion, members of the board immediately resigned. Having reached an impasse, and being unable to have further discussions with Quixtar/Alticor management, we have asked the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to provide essentially the same relief we asked Quixtar/Amway to voluntarily accept. Our complaint to the court can be reviewed in detail by clicking on the PDF included in this e-mail. This lawsuit does not seek damages or retribution. As Moses said to Pharaoh, “Let our people go!”

Download Complaint.pdf

Robert L. Dickie III

Team
Chief Executive Officer

The complaints lists the following plaintiffs -

Orrin Woodward, Billy Florence, Don Wilson, Fred Harteis, Tim Marks, Chuck Cullen, Kirk Birtles, Randy Haugen, Chris Brady, Jim Martin, Aron Radosa, Chuck Goetschel, David Brandy, Benjamin L. Dickie, Bruce Gilbank, Mike Martensen

It essentially claims that Quixtar products are too highly priced to be retailable and seeks relief for plaintiffs to pursue other opportunities.