President Donald Trump declared a “complete victory” after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that plaintiffs could not bring a class action lawsuit against him.
Trump entered into an endorsement agreement with ACN Opportunity LLC in 2006 to promote its marketing training services for independent business owners, New York City-based U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield recounted in her order denying the class action lawsuit.
A series of agreements followed that lasted until June 2015, the month he announced his presidential candidacy.
Three plaintiffs claimed in the lawsuit that it was Trump’s endorsement that persuaded them to purchase ACN’s products.
Two of them said they earned no money from the venture, while another said she made just $38 over a two-year period.
The plaintiffs alleged that they did not realize Trump was being paid millions of dollars to endorse ACN.
Schofield ruled it would be impossible to define a class of individuals harmed by Trump’s endorsement because people can be convinced by a number of factors, including their individual inquiry into the company, other marketing materials and what people may have told them.
“The majority of the content on the Opportunity Discs [promoting the company] portrayed testimonials from various successful IBOs, highlighting how ACN has enabled them to have, for example, a relaxed work life, expensive cars, and large homes,” the judge explained.
“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,” Schofield added.