Evolv Health filed a lawsuit in Texas on November 13, 2013, seeking injunctions against Epic and its parent company, eCosway. The legal action came after Epic, led by CEO Glen Jensen, launched earlier that year with a "$100 Million Dollar Leadership Development Strategy."
Epic advertised this strategy openly on its website. It included a corporate email address for inquiries. The company stated it was "attracting the best and brightest people from around the world to join in this Epic era." This offer aimed to entice affiliates and management from other multi-level marketing (MLM) companies to join Epic, potentially receiving a share of the $100 million.
Evolv Health took issue with Epic's recruitment offer. Its petition requested a temporary restraining order, a temporary injunction, and a permanent injunction against Epic.
Evolv's complaints also covered conduct earlier in 2013. In May, Matt Steffe, then an Evolv affiliate, approached the company about a potential "business opportunity" involving eCosway.
On June 6, Evolv's Chairman of the Board, Roscoe White, met with Jensen to discuss Steffe's investment proposal. Both parties signed a mutual non-disclosure and non-circumvention agreement. This agreement stated that any confidential information received from Evolv was for the sole purpose of evaluating the potential transaction. eCosway also agreed not to circumvent Evolv regarding any business relationship between Evolv and any third party identified by Evolv as a component of its business, solution, or process.
Evolv disclosed confidential and proprietary information to Jensen and eCosway during the June meeting and in subsequent communications. The "potential transaction" likely referred to an investment by eCosway into Evolv Health.
No investment deal materialized from the talks. Evolv claims eCosway and Jensen never intended to honor the agreement. They assert the meeting and agreement served as a ruse to gain access to Evolv's confidential information.
Evolv alleges Jensen and eCosway were already planning to launch a new multi-level marketing company, Epic. Epic would partner with eCosway and directly compete with Evolv.