You may have heard about a Trulife Distribution lawsuit, but the company has actually faced a few suits in recent years. We break down the latest here.
One lawsuit in the distribution industry that recently garnered media coverage was between two competitors that are quite familiar with each other. Indeed, the Trulife distribution lawsuit revolves around two companies with family connections as well as a prior history of litigation.
The Trulife Distribution lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in 2022, has since been resolved.
In this article, we explain the parties involved, their prior litigation history, and the outcome of the recent Trulife Distribution lawsuit.
Nutritional Products International (NPI) is a company based in Florida that describes itself as a "world-renowned distribution platform for nutritional brands." Founded in 2008, Nutritional Products International "plays the role of U.S. headquarters for foreign brands."
Trulife Distribution, meanwhile, has operated since 2019 and performs a similar function to NPI. Trulife's website encourages prospective clients to "[i]magine having a full-scale headquarters for your brand in the United States. . . Allow TruLife Distribution to be your presence in the United States."
Like NPI, Trulife Distribution is based out of Florida.
The similarities between the companies don't stop at their geography and industry, though.
Mitch Gould, Founder and CEO of NPI, is the father of Brian Gould, the Founder and CEO of Trulife Distribution. Furthermore, according to Brian Gould's LinkedIn and NPI's complaint, Brian Gould spent 13 years working at NPI prior to founding Trulife, including as President of NPI.
The family connection between the two parties involved doesn't just add a spicy, dramatic angle to the Trulife Distribution lawsuit; it also relates to some of the core allegations in the legal proceedings.
So, what is the Trulife Distribution lawsuit about? At its core, NPI alleges that Trulife made false and misleading statements "with the intention to deceive NPI's clients and prospective clients." NPI filed its lawsuit in May 2022 in a U.S. District Court in Florida.
A key piece of the legal battle centers on NPI case studies, which NPI alleges Brian Gould had access to during his tenure as an executive of NPI. The complaint alleges that Trulife used these case studies, which were NPI's "success stories," and passed them off as their own in order to win business and sign clients.
As another aspect of the alleged deceptive trade practices, NPI states that it was copied on an email sent to an email address that was made to appear as if it were an NPI email address, but that NPI claims " discovery will reveal that it was fraudulently created by defendant. . . to sabotage and convert NPI business to Trulife." (In other words, similar to the deceptive trade practices involving the case studies, NPI alleges that Trulife created an email meant to imitate NPI's email domain in order to confuse and convert clients).
NPI claimed it suffered harm as a result of the allegedly false statements and dubious business practices employed to solicit NPI's actual and prospective clients. NPI also alleged the deceptive trade practices "caused confusion in the marketplace within the nutrition, health and wellness industry."
Notably, this is not even the first legal battle between the two companies. The complaint in the current legal proceedings states that NPI became aware in 2019 that their former executive "decided to clone the NPI operation in its entirety." There was litigation between the two companies and their principals in both federal and state court. Those legal disputes were resolved through mediation in 2021.
The complaint in the current Trulife Distribution lawsuit, though, takes care to note that the false and misleading statements and other facts giving rise to the current legal battle took place after the resolution of the previous lawsuit's outcome.
The lawsuit alleges violations of multiple laws, including:
NPI seeks various forms of injunctive relief as well as monetary damages in its Trulife Distribution lawsuit. More simply, they are asking the court to stop Trulife from engaging in further deceptive trade practices and to compensate NPI for the harm caused by the allegedly false and misleading statements.
What was the outcome of the Trulife Distribution lawsuit? It appears that, as with the previous legal action between the companies, the case was resolved before litigation truly got underway and either side's legal arguments were fleshed out.
Attorneys for Nutritional Products International submitted a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal Pursuant to on June 10, 2022.
The judge subsequently entered an order dismissing the Trulife Distribution lawsuit on June 13, 2022.
So, what are the key takeaways from the Trulife Distribution lawsuit? Let's recap the highlights.
The recent Trulife lawsuit involved two competing companies as well as two family members, as Mitch Gould's NPI alleged that Brian Gould's Trulife Distribution made false and misleading statements, engaged in deceptive trade practices, and that these actions harmed NPI's relationship with existing and prospective clients.
These legal proceedings were not the first legal battle between the parties involved, as there was a previous legal action several years earlier. The recent lawsuit's outcome, as with the earlier Trulife lawsuit, was resolved well before the legal matters at issue were evaluated by a judge. The earlier lawsuit was resolved through mediation, while NPI voluntarily dismissed its complaint in the later lawsuit.
Will this be the last NPI vs Trulife Distribution lawsuit? Given the history between the two companies, it's hard to predict the likelihood that any further legal proceedings unfold. For now, though, the companies will continue to compete in the distribution industry, and only time will tell whether any further accusations of false advertising or unfair competition arise down the line.
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
