Editing Amway (section)

==Other legal actions==
===Canadian tax fraud case===
In 1982, Amway co-founders, Richard M. DeVos and Jay Van Andel, along with Amway's executive vice president for corporate services, William J. Discher Jr., were indicted in Canada on several criminal charges, including allegations that they underreported the value of goods brought into the country and had defrauded the Canadian government of more than $28 million from 1965 to 1980.<ref name="NYT_111183">{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Douglas|title=Amway admits fraud|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/11/business/amway-admits-fraud.html|access-date=March 12, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 11, 1983|archive-date=March 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313035555/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/11/business/amway-admits-fraud.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ledger_031216">{{cite news|title=Amway Pleads Guilty to Fraud|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wSUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mvsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4697,3984825&hl=en|newspaper=[[Lakeland Ledger]]|date=November 11, 1983}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=CanadaTax>{{Cite news
  | title = Amway of Canada Drops Tax Appeal
  | work = The New York Times
  | agency = Reuters
  | date = February 7, 1984
  | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E3D81039F932A15750C0A962948260
  | access-date = July 5, 2007
  | archive-date = October 13, 2007
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071013174529/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E3D81039F932A15750C0A962948260
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news
  | title = Amway, Canada Reach Settlement In Customs Dispute
  | work = The Wall Street Journal
  | date = September 25, 1989
  | url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/wsj/access/860493942.html?dids=860493942:860493942&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Sep+25%2C+1989&author=JOHN+URQUHART+Staff+Reporter+of+THE+WALL+STREET+JOURNAL&pub=Wall+Street+Journal++(1889-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=C17&type=historic&desc=Amway%2C+Canada+Reach+Settlement+In+Customs+Dispute
  | access-date = June 4, 2008
  | archive-date = November 19, 2010
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101119205207/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/wsj/access/860493942.html?dids=860493942:860493942&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Sep+25%2C+1989&author=JOHN+URQUHART+Staff+Reporter+of+THE+WALL+STREET+JOURNAL&pub=Wall+Street+Journal++(1889-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=C17&type=historic&desc=Amway%2C+Canada+Reach+Settlement+In+Customs+Dispute
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> The charges were dropped in 1983 after Amway and its Canadian subsidiary pleaded guilty to criminal customs fraud charges.<ref name="The New York Times 1983 v854">{{cite web | title=BUSINESS PEOPLE; Haig to Advise Amway On Foreign Operations | website=The New York Times | date=December 12, 1983 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/12/business/business-people-haig-to-advise-amway-on-foreign-operations.html | access-date=April 2, 2024}}</ref> The companies paid a fine of $25&nbsp;million CAD, the largest fine ever imposed in Canada at the time.<ref name="NYT_111183" /> In 1989, the company settled the outstanding customs duties for $45 million CAD.<ref name="LATimes_1989">{{cite web | author=Times Wire Services | title=P. M. BRIEFING : Amway Pays $38-Million to Canada | website=Los Angeles Times | date=September 22, 1989 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-22-fi-888-story.html | access-date=April 2, 2024}}</ref>

===RIAA lawsuit===
The [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA), as part of its anti-piracy efforts, sued Amway and several distributors in 1996, alleging that copyrighted music was used on "highly profitable" training videotapes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E4D61339F932A15751C0A960958260 |title=Record Labels Sue Amway over its videos |work=The New York Times |date=February 21, 1996 |access-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref> Amway denied wrongdoing, blaming the case on a misunderstanding by distributors, and settled the case out of court for $9&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-19783607.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208073245/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-19783607.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 8, 2013 |title=Amway pays $9&nbsp;million to settle copyright infringement suit |publisher=Highbeam.com |access-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref>

===Amway UK===
In 2007, Amway's operations were halted in the United Kingdom and Ireland following a yearlong investigation by the UK Department of Trade and Industry, which moved to have Amway banned on the basis that the company had employed deceptive marketing, presented inflated earnings estimates, and lured distributors into buying bogus "motivation and training" tools.<ref name="FT_031116">{{cite news|title=Pyramid scam alert|volume=42|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070722/FinancialTimes/ft319.html|access-date=March 11, 2016|issue=8|newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|date=July 22, 2007|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220545/http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070722/FinancialTimes/ft319.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=UK threatens to ban Amway|first=Lee|last=Lupo|work=The Muskegon Chronicle|location=Grand Rapids|date=July 1, 2007|url=http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2007/07/united_kingdom_investigates_am.html|access-date=April 2, 2010|archive-date=December 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111225102446/http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2007/07/united_kingdom_investigates_am.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2008, a UK judge dismissed government claims against Amway's operations, saying major reforms in the prior year (which included banning non-Amway-approved motivational events and materials) had fixed company faults that favoured selling training materials over products and misrepresented earnings. However, the judge also expressed his belief that Amway allowed "misrepresentations" of its business by independent sellers in years past and failed to act decisively against the misrepresentations.<ref name="MLive_031116">{{cite news|last1=Knape|first1=Chris|title=U.K. judge dismisses claims against Amway|url=http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/uk_dismisses_claims_against_am.html|access-date=March 11, 2016|publisher=MLive Media Group|date=May 14, 2008|archive-date=March 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312070752/http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/uk_dismisses_claims_against_am.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===''Welcome to Life'' (Poland)===
In 1997, Amway Poland and [[Network TwentyOne]] separately sued the makers of a Polish film, ''Welcome to Life'' ({{langx|pl|Witajcie w życiu}}), for defamation and copyright violations. Henryk Dederko (the director) and producer were later acquitted on the charge of disseminating false information.<ref name="wiadomosci.wp.pl">{{cite web |url=http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1345,title,Przerazajacy-film-o-praniu-mozgow-nie-w-Warszawie,wid,11589486,wiadomosc.html |title="Przerażający film o praniu mózgów" – nie w Warszawie – Wiadomości – WP.PL |publisher=Wiadomosci.wp.pl |access-date=July 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705164006/http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1345,title,Przerazajacy-film-o-praniu-mozgow-nie-w-Warszawie,wid,11589486,wiadomosc.html |archive-date=July 5, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Ban on Film Has Poland Debating Censorship|first=Jane|last=Perlez|work=The New York Times|location=Warsaw|date=June 14, 1998|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/14/world/ban-on-film-has-poland-debating-censorship.html?pagewanted=1|access-date=February 5, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218075014/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/14/world/ban-on-film-has-poland-debating-censorship.html?pagewanted=1|url-status=live}}</ref> The film, banned for 12 years, was one of the highly anticipated movies of 2009's Warsaw Film Festival and was dubbed by the promoters as a "scary movie about brainwashing"<ref name="wiadomosci.wp.pl"/> It was said to depict hard-sell "[[pep rallies]]", and to include statements from distributors that meetings had a similar tone to meetings of the [[Polish United Workers' Party|Communist Party]] before it lost power in Poland. Methods of recruitment that confusingly resembled those of a sect were also described.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plejada.pl/2,24876,news,1,1,witajcie-w-zyciu-film-o-amwayu-wycofany-z-wff,artykul.html |title="Witajcie w życiu", film o Amwayu wycofany z WFF – Film – Plejada – Sprawdź, co słychać w show-biznesie |publisher=Plejada.pl |date=October 13, 2009 |access-date=July 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722134910/http://www.plejada.pl/2%2C24876%2Cnews%2C1%2C1%2Cwitajcie-w-zyciu-film-o-amwayu-wycofany-z-wff%2Cartykul.html |archive-date=July 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> A bestseller on the local video [[black market]], the film was banned while the suit proceeded.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ban on Film Has Poland Debating Censorship|first=Jane|last=Perlez|work=The New York Times|location=Warsaw|date=June 14, 1998|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/14/world/ban-on-film-has-poland-debating-censorship.html?pagewanted=1|access-date=February 5, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218075014/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/14/world/ban-on-film-has-poland-debating-censorship.html?pagewanted=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2001 a regional court ruled in favor of Network 21; however, in 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court dismissed Amway's civil lawsuit. On appeal Amway won the case and the producers were ordered to pay a fine to a children's charity and publish a public apology.<ref name="AmwayWins">{{Cite news|title=Amway wygrał z Dederką (Amway wins against Dederko)|work=Money.pl|date=December 10, 2001|url=http://www.money.pl/gospodarka/wiadomosci/artykul/quot;amwayquot;;wygral;z;dederka,244,0,50676.html|access-date=April 2, 2010|archive-date=November 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111190737/http://www.money.pl/gospodarka/wiadomosci/artykul/quot;amwayquot;;wygral;z;dederka,244,0,50676.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Witajcie w życiu wciąż półkownikiem |work=WProst |url=http://www.wprost.pl/ar/?O=82534&C=71 |location=Warsaw |date=October 10, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618134824/http://www.wprost.pl/ar/?O=82534&C=71 |archive-date=June 18, 2009 |df=mdy }}</ref> {{as of|2009}} the film was still banned due to an ongoing case brought by "private individuals" ridiculed in the film.<ref>{{cite web|author=e-point SA |url=http://www.amway.pl/news?news_id=11226&back_uri=/ |title=Amway (pl) – OŚWIADCZENIE |publisher=Amway.pl |date=October 13, 2009 |access-date=July 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903233612/http://www.amway.pl/news?news_id=11226&back_uri=%2F |archive-date=September 3, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>

On December 18, 2012, the court ruled that film can be screened, but the makers have to remove "untrue information", as the screen near the end of the movie stated that 30% of company income is generated by sales of training materials and that the vast majority of its profits are shared only by the tiny fraction of top distributors.<ref>{{cite web |author=Andrzej Biernat, poseł PO o zachowaniu Jarosława Gowina |url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114871,13073248,Koniec_procesu_ws__Amway__TVP_moze_pokazac_film__ale.html#BoxWiadTxt?lokale=wroclaw |title=Wiadomości – Gazeta.pl |language=pl |publisher=Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl |access-date=2013-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221084513/http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114871,13073248,Koniec_procesu_ws__Amway__TVP_moze_pokazac_film__ale.html#BoxWiadTxt?lokale=wroclaw |archive-date=December 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> This is not the only court case, so the film is still banned on other grounds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114883,13074755,Rezyser_filmu_o_Amwayu_szczerze_o_wyroku__Nikt_nic.html|title=Reżyser filmu o Amwayu szczerze o wyroku: Nikt nic nie rozumie, czyli 'Witajcie w życiu' [WYWIAD]|language=pl|publisher=Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl|date=2012-12-18|access-date=2013-05-27|archive-date=December 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221093235/http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114883,13074755,Rezyser_filmu_o_Amwayu_szczerze_o_wyroku__Nikt_nic.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Dr. Phil and Shape Up===
In March 2004, TV personality [[Phil McGraw]] (a.k.a. Dr. Phil) pulled his "Shape Up" line of supplements off the market in the face of an investigation by the [[U.S. Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC). The supplements were manufactured by CSA Nutraceuticals, a [[subsidiary]] of [[Alticor]]'s Access Business Group.<ref name=Dembling>{{cite book|author= Sophia Dembling|author2= Lisa Gutierrez|title=The Making of Dr. Phil: The Straight-Talking True Story of Everyone's Favorite Therapist|year=2003|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=0471696595|page=181}}</ref> The FTC later dropped the probe, but in October 2005 a [[class-action lawsuit]] was filed against McGraw by several people who used the products and claimed that the supplements, which cost $120 per month, did not stimulate weight loss.<ref name="ctv">{{cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051007/drphil_classaction_051007/20051007/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051013055352/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051007/drphil_classaction_051007/20051007 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 13, 2005 |title=Class-action status sought in Dr. Phil diet suit |access-date=October 21, 2007 |publisher=CTV Globe Media |year=2005 |author=<!-- CTV.ca News Staff --> }}</ref> In September 2006, a $10.5&nbsp;million settlement was reached, in which Alticor agreed to provide $4.5&nbsp;million in cash and $6&nbsp;million in Nutrilite products to disgruntled users of Shape Up.<ref name="usaap">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-09-26-dr-phil-diet_x.htm|title=Settlement reached on Dr. Phil diet plan|access-date=October 21, 2007|work=USA Today|agency=Associated Press|date=September 26, 2006|archive-date=May 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524052857/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-09-26-dr-phil-diet_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE |url=https://www.casewatch.net/civil/drphil/settlement.pdf |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=Casewatch |archive-date=August 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805234056/https://casewatch.net/civil/drphil/settlement.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=9791 |title=News+Views: Slimming the Amway |newspaper=Metro Times Detroit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010082818/http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=9791|archive-date=10 October 2007|access-date=5 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.cnn.com/2005-10-04/justice/dr.phil_1_low-calorie-diet-dieters-class-action?_s=PM:LAW | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707234202/http://articles.cnn.com/2005-10-04/justice/dr.phil_1_low-calorie-diet-dieters-class-action?_s=PM:LAW | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 7, 2012 | publisher=CNN | title=California judge gives tentative OK to Toyota class-action suit | date=November 19, 2010 }}</ref>

===Procter & Gamble===
Some Amway distributors distributed an [[urban legend]] that the (old) [[Procter & Gamble#Logo myth|Procter & Gamble service mark]] was in fact a [[Satanism|Satanic]] symbol or that the CEO of P&G is himself a practicing [[Satanist]]. (In some variants of the story, it is also claimed that the CEO of Procter & Gamble donated "satanic tithes" to the [[Church of Satan]].)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/business/alliance/procter.asp |title=Urban Legends Reference Pages: Procter and Gamble and Satanism Rumor |website=Snopes.com |date=August 12, 1999 |access-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref> Procter & Gamble alleged that several Amway distributors were behind a resurgence of the story in the 1990s and sued several independent Amway distributors and the company for [[defamation]] and slander.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=[[Procter & Gamble]] v. Amway |vol=280 |reporter=F.3d |opinion=519 |court=Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals |date=July 19, 2004 |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/5th/0320202pv2.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/5th/0320202pv2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=December 29, 2008}}</ref> The distributors had used Amway's Amvox voice messaging service to send the rumor to their downline distributors in April 1995.<ref name="DN031907">{{cite news |last1=Geoffrey |first1=Fattah |title=Amway distributors face $19 million judgment in suit |url=https://www.deseret.com/2007/3/20/20008309/amway-distributors-face-19-million-judgment-in-suit |access-date=December 5, 2019 |publisher=[[Deseret News]] |date=March 19, 2007 |archive-date=December 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206005802/https://www.deseret.com/2007/3/20/20008309/amway-distributors-face-19-million-judgment-in-suit |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2003, after more than a decade of lawsuits in multiple states, all allegations against Amway and Amway distributors had been dismissed. In October 2005, a Utah appeals court reversed part of the decision dismissing the case against the four Amway distributors, and remanded it to the lower court for further proceedings.<ref>[http://www.kscourts.org/CA10/cases/2005/10/03-4234.htm 03-4234 – Procter & Gamble Co. V. Haugen – October 19, 2005<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704193135/http://www.kscourts.org/CA10/cases/2005/10/03-4234.htm |date=July 4, 2008 }}</ref> In the lawsuit against the four former Amway distributors, Procter & Gamble was awarded $19.25 million by a U.S. District Court jury in Salt Lake City on March 20, 2007.<ref>{{Cite news
 |title       = Procter & Gamble Awarded $19.25&nbsp;Million in Satanism Lawsuit
 |work        = [[Fox News]]
 |date        = March 20, 2007
 |url         = https://www.foxnews.com/story/procter-gamble-awarded-19-25-million-in-satanism-lawsuit
 |access-date  = December 29, 2018
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20181230182621/https://www.foxnews.com/story/procter-gamble-awarded-19-25-million-in-satanism-lawsuit
 |archive-date = 2018-12-30
 |url-status     = dead
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news
  | last = Kirdahy
  | first = Matthew
  | title = The Devil Didn't Make Them Do It
  | work=Forbes.com
  | date = March 22, 2007
  | url = https://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2007/03/22/procter-gamble-faces-markets-equity-cx_mk_0320autofacescan02.html
  | access-date =July 5, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070703004639/http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2007/03/22/procter-gamble-faces-markets-equity-cx_mk_0320autofacescan02.html| archive-date= July 3, 2007 | url-status= dead}}</ref> On November 24, 2008, the case was officially settled.<ref>{{Cite news
 |title       = P&G Satanic Rumors Case Settles After Marathon Battle
 |work        = onpointnews.com
 |date        = December 16, 2008
 |url         = http://www.onpointnews.com/081216.asp
 |access-date  = December 18, 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081221214945/http://www.onpointnews.com/081216.asp
 |archive-date = December 21, 2008
 |url-status     = dead
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref> "It's hard to imagine they'd pursue it this long, especially after all the retractions we put out," said distributor Randy Haugen, a 53-year-old Ogden, Utah, businessman who maintained P&G was never able to show how it was harmed by the rumors. "We are stunned. All of us."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/procter-gamble-wins-satanic-civil-suit/|title=Procter & Gamble Wins Satanic Civil Suit|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=March 20, 2007 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-09|archive-date=February 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228220724/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/procter-gamble-wins-satanic-civil-suit/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Regulatory violations in Vietnam===
In January 2017, the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade determined that Amway Vietnam had violated federal regulations by engaging in unauthorized multi-level marketing.<ref name="VNN_011716">{{cite news|title=Amway found violating multiple regulations on multi-level marketing|url=http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/171344/amway-found-violating-multiple-regulations-on-multi-level-marketing.html|access-date=January 19, 2017|publisher=VietnamNet Bridge|date=January 17, 2017|ref=VNN_011716|archive-date=January 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118163124/http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/171344/amway-found-violating-multiple-regulations-on-multi-level-marketing.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>