Burke Hedges Not The Only One Suspiciously Terminated by LifeVantage

SALT LAKE CITY — Jason Domingo. The name may not ring any bells, but I would be remiss in writing the Burke Hedges vs. LifeVantage (LFVN) story without bringing him up. That’s because Domingo was a top performing distributor working for LFVN in 2013 when he was terminated under suspicious circumstances.

In 2010, it’s reported that LifeVantage was making about $10 million a year when big shot distributors like Hedges and Domingo were brought into the fold. By 2013, when the company tumultuously separated from Domingo, LFVN’s profits were in the $200 millions. Reportedly, Domingo’s distributorship business, Ovation Marketing Group, was making roughly $2.5 million in revenue from LFVN when he was terminated, making him the top distributor.

In a press release dated November 20, 2013, LifeVantage announced the termination and lawsuit against Domingo. Stating a case of “breach of contract” and “misappropriation of trade secrets”. In a quote by then CEO, Douglas C. Robinson, they remind distributors they are “absolutely committed to vigorously protecting the businesses of our loyal independent distributors”.

But are they? That’s the question I keep examining as we sift through court documents and personal testimony in multiple cases of distributorship gone awry.

LifeVantage v Jason Domingo and Ovation Marketing Group

In November of 2016, LFVN filed suit against its former top performer alleging breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. In its claim, court documents attest Domingo “materially breached the non-disparagement, confidentiality, and non-disclosure provisions of their contract. LifeVantage also contends that it is entitled to summary judgment on all the counterclaims asserted against it”.

In a counterclaim, Domingo says the company conspired with another distributor, Dwight Daniels, and he countersues both LFVN and Daniels for claims that include “breach of contract, defamation, tortious interference, and civil conspiracy”.

That sounds a lot like our Hedges case. Only in the case of Domingo, another distributor was involved with bringing claims against Domingo to top leaders in the company. You can read about that here.

While it does appear that Daniels was heavily involved in some meddling that resulted in the termination of Jason Domingo, the court ruled wasn’t legal grounds for defamation. Claims against Daniels were wrapped up in a summary judgement on his behalf. Essentially, the courts ruled if there was no defamation than there was no conspiracy. From outside of legal purview, you could probably say Daniels threw Domingo under the bus with leadership, so to speak.

With the case closed in Daniels’ favor, that leaves a judgment to be made between LifeVantage and Domingo.

The Facts

Domingo was a Pro 10 distributor. In LFVN terms, that means he was at the highest distributor tier with a downline of others beneath him. As a high-level producer he was also considered the “lead distributor”, or LifeVantage’s golden boy expected to embody the Company’s value. It’s not disputed that Domingo’s contract has specific terms that include non-disparagement, confidentiality and non-solicitation.

If you look to the blogosphere, the case is punctuated by a scathing email from Domingo stating, “there is no statement too strong that speaks to the malfeasance of this management team.”

These words are used in court to illustrate a time when Domingo allegedly broke the non-disparagement condition of his contract, and according to LFVN, illustrate the material breach. The November email was one of the last correspondences Domingo wrote. It eventually made it’s way to the CEO in the same month of Domingo’s termination.

But the facts also show that the ball was put in motion for Domingo’s ultimate demise in July 2013. This is when a phone call took place from Daniels to Robinson about Domingo’s so-called negativity. And with Domingo in the cross-hairs, they waited for his November 3rd email to evidence material breach before filing suit.

Domingo argued that there was a grey area between constructive criticism and disparagement that would constitute material breach, but the courts ruled in favor of LifeVantage due to the nature of Domingo’s influence as a lead distributor.

Suspicious Indeed

So, maybe an unhappy Domingo did breach his contract after months of scrutiny and speculation over his negative attitude by the Company? But if the Burke Hedges case tells us anything, to win their lawsuit against Domingo the company wouldn’t have to prove breach, just that they believed a breach had occurred.

Armed with that knowledge, it seems like this case was going to work in LifeVantage’s favor one way or the other. But there are still many questions left answered that make the whole thing seem suspect.

Why was Jason Domingo so deeply disturbed by the company that he would openly reference the “malfeasance of this management team”? And why was the executive management team replaced between the time of Burke Hedges’ case against LifeVantage and Domingo’s? Is it a coincidence that two top producers would be accused of breach and tied up in lengthy legal battles?

Answers to these questions and more — still to come. Stay tuned.