Former President Donald Trump celebrated a resounding victory following a federal judge’s ruling on Tuesday, which barred plaintiffs from pursuing a class action lawsuit against him.
In 2006, Donald Trump entered into a promotional partnership with ACN Opportunity LLC to endorse its marketing training services for independent business owners. This information was confirmed by U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield, who is based in New York City, in her decision to reject the class action lawsuit.
This endorsement agreement with ACN Opportunity LLC continued until June 2015, coinciding with his presidential candidacy announcement.
The lawsuit featured three plaintiffs who asserted that they had been influenced by Trump’s endorsement to purchase ACN’s products. Two individuals claimed they had not profited from the venture, while a third reported earning a mere $38 over a two-year span.
The crux of the plaintiff’s complaint was that they were unaware of Trump receiving substantial compensation for his endorsement of ACN. Judge Schofield concluded that defining a class of individuals harmed by Trump’s endorsement was infeasible, given that people can be swayed by various factors, including their own research into the company, other promotional materials, and personal recommendations.
The judge explained that the Opportunity Discs promoting the company mainly consisted of testimonials from successful IBOs. These testimonials emphasized how ACN had helped them achieve a comfortable work-life balance, acquire expensive cars, and own large homes.
Schofield also noted, “The nature of Trump’s alleged misstatements also raises individual questions of whether any given putative class member believed the statements and therefore relied on them.”
She further pointed out that “the record evidence shows that some IBOs knew or assumed Trump was a paid spokesperson.”
The judge stated that Trump’s comments about ACN, including calling it a “great opportunity,” referring to its “proven track record” of “creating millionaires,” and describing it as having a “winning business model,” could be seen as an exaggeration often used in advertising rather than a deliberate misrepresentation.
In addition to dismissing the class action lawsuit, Judge Schofield instructed the three plaintiffs to provide briefs by Tuesday, explaining why their claims should not be separated from the others and transferred as individual cases to the respective district courts in California, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, where they reside.
In response to the judge’s ruling, Trump took to Truth Social, stating, “Today we had a Total and Complete Victory against Far Left Lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, on her ridiculous ACN Class Action Suit, yet another Election Interference Case.”
“It was ruled that there can be no Class Action, and Certification was denied!” he added.
Roberta Kaplan had previously represented E. Jean Carroll in her defamation civil suit against Trump in May, related to her allegations that the former president had sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.
Trump has consistently denied any knowledge of Carroll.
During his closing argument in May, Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, dismissed Carroll’s claims as a baseless work of fiction, suggesting that the legal team representing Carroll aimed to manipulate the jury’s sentiments enough to disregard the facts.