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I am legal counsel to Jody and Kathy Victor. I have
represented Mr. and Mrs. Victor for nearly twenty
years. Until his death in January 2002, my Father,
Bill Abraham, had represented Jody Victor and his
parents since around 1974.
I have reviewed the written exchanges between you
and Mr. Victor that began in December 2005. I have
also reviewed your Website, www.amquix.info,
including the new pages you recently posted on April
6 and April 7 concerning the Victors and their
business.
Once again, you have drawn erroneous conclusions
based upon your own inadequate research and false
and inaccurate information you obtained from unnamed
and/or anonymous sources. You have previously been
put on notice that at least one of your sources is
admittedly unreliable (e.g.,
IBO name
withheld).
The statements you recently published on your
Website about the Victors are false, disparaging and
malicious and far exceed the bounds of any legally
protected speech or opinion. Your clear intent is
to cause damage to the Victors in their business
affairs and harm them personally. As you may
already know (and, if you did not, you now know for
certain), the law in Ohio prohibits anyone from
publishing in writing false statements charging one
with dishonesty or deceit in his trade or business.
This type of conduct is so patently offensive under
Ohio law that our courts characterize such conduct
as libel per se, which entitles to the victim
to relief from a court without even a requirement of
special damages proof.
Specifically, you state the Victors obtained their
Crown pin by less than honorable means, and that Mr.
Victor was a “Cookware Crown.” Your discussion
about “Cookware Crowns” leaves nothing to the
imagination about how Amway distributors and Quixtar
IBOs perceive one who qualifies for the Crown pin in
that manner. This statement about how the Victors
achieved their Crown pin is entirely false and a
malicious misrepresentation of the true facts.
First, the Victors achieved their Crown pin in
August 1981 by sponsoring twenty (20) Direct
Distributor legs (25% level for at least three
consecutive months). The Victors never engaged in a
one-month sales push for any product, including
cookware. Secondly, when the Victors qualified for
their Crown pin in Amway fiscal year 1980-81 (Sept.
1 through August 31), the rules for Crown
qualification required twenty (20) Direct
Distributor legs, or legs that qualified at Direct
Distributor or above.
Moreover, the rules to which you refer (20 legs at
Silver for Crown qualification) were in effect for a
period preceding the 1980-81 Amway fiscal year.
Even then, just having 20 Silver legs was not enough
to qualify for the Crown pin. The distributor also
needed to be a qualified Diamond. Your incomplete
research failed to ascertain this important
requirement, leading to its omission in your latest
missives.
Based upon your erroneous analysis and the apparent
enmity you have for the Victors, you unequivocally
publish on your Website that Mr. Victor is “publicly
disseminating false information,” and “lying on the
IBOA [W]ebsite.” You further accuse Mr. Victor of
engaging in deceptive and dishonorable business
behavior. Your statements are false, defamatory,
and designed to cause substantial harm to the
Victors.
You have exactly five (5) days from the date of this
letter to retract the foregoing statements and
publish the retraction on your Website, and all
other sites on which you posted the same or similar
statements. If you fail to issue the proper
retractions and make a formal apology to the
Victors, I will file a lawsuit against you on behalf
of the Victors in a court of competent
jurisdiction. In addition, the Victors are
demanding that you reveal the identity of the
person(s) who informed you the Victors are only
“periodically qualifying Emeralds”, as well as the
name of the person(s) who recently informed you that
Jody Victor was a “Cookware Crown.”
To be clear, you will receive no further notice and
neither the Victors nor I will engage in any
additional correspondence with you regarding these
issues. Finally, my clients and I will continue to
monitor your Website. If at anytime we find you
engaging in similar conduct relative to the Victors,
I will immediately file suit against you without any
notice or opportunity to cure.
Sincerely,
Rick J. Abraham
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