A Utah-based nutritional drink company that started last year is reeling after its top distributors failed in an attempt to oust its CEO and co-founder and then were fired. Other co-founders of the company and top managers, including at least 35 top employees, also left the company amid allegations of personal enrichment made against CEO William F. Farley.
The sides were huddling with lawyers Friday to discuss options after the meltdown at Zrii LLC of Draper, which launched its juice just last May with the endorsement of the popular author of mind-body wellness books and seminars Deepak Chopra.
Farley terminated the top seven distributors in an e-mail Thursday after they had sent him a letter on Monday demanding his resignation, said Jason Domingo of Sacramento, the company's master distributor, who was at the top of a web of what he said were about 70,000 independent sellers at the multilevel marketing company.
Domingo cited personal and professional behavior by Farley, his relations with distributors and company staff, as well as his decisions altering payments to distributors in ways not in accord with the Zrii's compensation plan.
The letter, which has been circulating among lower-level distributors, demanded Farley "immediately remove yourself as the CEO of Zrii." "Your behavior both in your person and professional life, neither represents the ideals and principles of our team nor our brand," said the letter. "To continue our association with you would not only represent a severe compromise in principle but would also put every IE's [independent executive's] family at great risk."
Farley refused to resign.
Click to read the entire article.
