Monat Global Class Actions Piling Up

Lawsuits mount against hair care MLM Monat.

May 15, 2018 | Updated September 2, 2020

Monat Global Class Actions Piling Up

Lawsuits against Monat Global, an Multilevel Marketing – a way of distributing products or services in which the distributors earn income from their own retail sales and from retail sales made by their direct and indirect recruits. company based in Florida that sells hair care products, are piling up with nine filed in the first five months of 2018. In addition to claims that Monat misleadingly markets its hair care products as safe and free of certain chemicals, lawsuits allege that the company fails to warn consumers that the products may cause hair loss and/or damage hair. In addition, several of the complaints allege that the company is operating a pyramid scheme. Firing back, Monat has sued at least one former distributor and two hair stylists (See Feb. 19, 2018 complaint and Feb. 21, 2018 complaint) claiming that these defendants made disparaging comments about the company.

Monat Global is also the subject of a state regulatory action in Florida. In that case, an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance was entered in August 2020 in which the company agreed to pay more than $80,000 in consumer refunds and $250,000 to the Florida Attorney General. The company also agreed to, among other things, refrain from engaging in deceptive marketing and to stop charging consumers without their consent.

Below are the cases that TINA.org is currently tracking.

Case Name (Court, Date Filed)	Failure to Warn Claims	Pyramid Scheme Claims	Hidden Ingredient Claims	Status
Sohovich v. Monat Global (S. D. FL., Feb. 2018)	√			Transferred to MDL*
Whitmire v. Monat Global (S. D. FL., Feb. 2018)	√	√	√	Transferred to MDL*
McWhortor v. Monat Global (S. D. FL., Mar. 2018)	√			Transferred to MDL*
Alabaster v. Monat Global (W. D. OK., Mar. 2018)	√	√	√	Transferred to MDL*
Merritt v. Monat Global (N. D. TX., Mar. 2018)	√	√	√	Transferred to MDL*
Botallico v. Monat Global (S. D. CA., Apr. 2018**)	√			Transferred to MDL*
Hoffpauir v. Monat Global (S. D. FL., Apr. 2018)	√	√	√	Transferred to MDL*
Row v. Monat Global (S. D. FL., May 2018)	√			Transferred to MDL*
Maur v. Monat Global, (S. D. FL., May 2018)	√	√		Transferred to MDL*
In Re: Monat Hair Care Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (S. D. CA., June 2018***)	√	√	√	Pending
Stefforia v. Monat Global (S. D. FL., July 2018)	√			Transferred to MDL*

*The multidistrict litigation (MDL) is In Re: Monat Hair Care Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (Case No. 18-md-2841, S. D. CA.; MDL No. 2841).

**Originally filed in state court and transferred to federal court

***June 2018 is when cases began being transferred to the multidistrict litigation (MDL).

For more of TINA.org’s coverage of Monat Global, click here.

Updated 9-2-20