Young Living Oils Class Action Alleges Pyramid Scheme

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Young Living Essential Oils by distributors who claim that the company engages in an unlawful pyramid scheme.

Plaintiff Lindsay Penhall claims that, in May 2018, she joined Young Living as a distributor when she learned about the company from another member.

Penhall states that, based on representations from the company, she thought she was going to achieve financial success.

The plaintiff also says she thought she would earn a significant income by recruiting other people to become members of Young Living.

“Young Living falsely represents to its Members that participation in Young Living—which necessarily requires hefty monthly payments—will result in material riches as long as they continue to solicit additional recruits to become Members of the Young Living family,” the Young Living class action lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiff claims that the promise to make a lot of money is just a “pipe dream” for company members as the defendant has only created a pyramid scheme and the main purpose of Young Living is to recruit new members and not the sale of their essential oils.

The plaintiff states that in 2016, the monthly income of 94 percent of the Young Living members was $0 a month and that the average monthly income was $1 a month. The plaintiff claims that, after factoring in the cost of purchasing the oils, at least 97.5 percent of members lost money.

“In fact, in 2016, the average Member lost $1,175,” the Young Living class action lawsuit states.

In addition, in 2018, 89 percent of its members reportedly made only $4 per year, which again does not include the money used to purchase the oils. The plaintiff claims that, in 2018, 96.7 percent of members lost money working for Young Living.

“Through this class action, Plaintiff and the putative class seek to hold Defendant accountable for its illegal and deleterious conduct, which has injured hundreds of thousands of unwitting consumers who put their faith in Defendant’s empty promises,” the Young Living class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiff claims that she lost around $2,000 by taking part in the Young Living pyramid scheme. Meanwhile, she says that sales of the defendant’s oils exceeded $1.5 billion and that the defendant’s revenues have increased 800 percent over the last six years.

Also, the plaintiff notes that the company has a long history of scandal. The founder of the company, Gary D. Young, was reportedly prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license and also allegedly almost killed a patient through vitamin C infusions.

Additionally, the Young Living class action states that in 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to the defendant for its false promotion that its oils are viable treatments of some viral infections, Parkinson’s disease, and autism. 

This is not the first time that Young Living has been the subject of a class action lawsuit. In April of this year, they were sued by a member who claimed that the company is “cult-like.”

“But most pernicious of all is that Defendant’s immense wealth is derived from a vast, illegal pyramid scheme that has caused countless unwitting victims to lose substantial sums of money,” the Young Living class action lawsuit states.

Did you lose money by being a member of Young Living Essential Oils? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Christopher D. Moon and Kevin O. Moon of Moon Law APC.

The Young Living Essential Oils Class Action Lawsuit is Lindsay Penhall v. Young Living Essential Oils LC, Case No. 3:19-cv-02340, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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