Nerium Class Action Lawsuit Says Consultant Launch Kits are Marked Up

A class action lawsuit says that Nerium, a company that sells anti-aging cream, is a fraudulent, multi-level marketing scheme that unfairly profits off of those who participate.

Plaintiff Kimberly Gerdo filed the Nerium marketing scheme class action lawsuit against Nerium and its owner, Jeff Olson in a California state court. The Nerium marketing scheme class action lawsuit was recently removed to federal court.

Gerdo says that the company misrepresents the costs of the Brand Partner Launch Kits it requires each new Brand Partner to purchase.

According to the Nerium class action lawsuit, the company claims that the costs only cover the cost the company incurs to train new Brand Partners, when in reality, the Brand Partner Launch Kits are a source of profit to the company.

Gerdo says that she became a sales representative, or “Brand Partner” for the company in February 2013, and was charged $499.95 for a “Brand Partner Launch Kit.” The plaintiff states that she canceled her Brand Partner account, then re-started it around Jan. 15, 2018.

She says that at this point, she purchased another Brand Partner Launch Kit, and discovered that the kit was not sold “at company cost,” as advertised, but was sold to profit the company and its owner, Olson.

Additionally, the Nerium class action lawsuit states that Olson and the company unlawfully receive kickbacks from the sale of Brand Partner Launch Kits. According to the plaintiff, Texas marketing company Success Partners produces the kits. Allegedly, Olson negotiated an inflated purchase price of Brand Partner Launch Kits from Success Partners, and gets a kickback with each sale of a Brand Partner Launch Kit to a new Brand Partner.

The Nerium business model class action lawsuit says that Nerium engages in unfair business practices by deceiving new Brand Partners about the value of the Brand Partner Launch Kits, and deceiving Brand Partners about the profits gained by the company from the sale of the kits.

Gerdo argues that these misrepresentations were knowing and deliberate on the part of Nerium and Olson, and that they represent violations of California Business and Professions Code. Additionally, she says that the company’s act of obtaining money from the Brand Parners under false pretenses is a violation of California Penal Code.

The plaintiff aims to represent herself and all other similarly affected individuals who purchased Brand Partner Launch Kits from the company and were misled as to the nature of the cost, and the value of the kits.

She seeks damages on behalf of herself and putative Class Members to compensate for the financial injury sustained by the company. She also wants the company to be forced to disgorge profits that it gained from the sale of the Brand Partner Launch Kits, and requests an indictment requiring the company to stop the alleged misrepresentation of the Brand Partner Launch Kits.

Gerdo is represented by James G. Bohm, Klaus Heinze and Christopher J. Green of Bohm Wildish & Matsen LLP.

The Nerium Multi-Level Marketing Scheme Class Action Lawsuit is Kimberly Gerdo v. Nerium International LLC, Case No. 5:18-cv-01834-DSF-SHK, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.