Free speech is a privilege we enjoy in the United States. But it is anything but free. My personal price for the right to express my opinion about Medifast, Inc. was 5 years of my life and nearly $200,000. (Of course, that doesn’t include the emotional toll that the case took, as Medifast’s malicious pursuit of its meritless case against me was clearly designed to ruin me professionally.)
Case Summary
To summarize Medifast’s bogus case against the defendants:
- In May 2009, Barry Minkow and his Fraud Discovery Institute released a report about Medifast Inc. and its multi-level marketing arm called Take Shape For Life (TSFL)
- In September 2009, I wrote an article on this blog about Medifast and TSFL, exposing the fraud behind multi-level marketing (MLM)
- In February 2010, Medifast sued Barry Minkow, Robert Fitzpatrick, me, and others with claims of defamation, violations of California Corporations Code and Unfair Business Practices.
- Approximately two months later, my attorneys filed an anti-SLAPP motion.