Financial Education Services sued for wrongful terminations

Eight former distributors have sued Financial Education Services for wrongful termination and unpaid commissions.

Plaintiffs Michelle Cofer, Keedic Cofer, Cortez Jenkins, Tameisha Jenkins, Geraldine Andre, Djivenino Andre, Marlon Hester Sr. and Monika Griffin filed a proposed class-action in Michigan on November 14th, 2022.

An Amended Complaint was filed on March 27th, 2023, which this article quotes from.

FES operates in Michigan under the trade name United Wealth Education (UWE).

Back in June 2022
the FTC sued FES
. The federal regulator alleged FES was running a ~$467 million dollar pyramid scheme.

In the immediate aftermath of the FTC’s case, a Temporary Restraining Order was granted, temporarily halting FES’ business operations.

Plaintiffs allege, as result of the granted TRO, FES (Defendants)

informed their higher-ranking agents, including some of Plaintiffs, that they did not expect Defendants would be permitted to recommence their business operations and encouraged the agents to seek work elsewhere, including with competing companies.

Lower ranked FES agents were not given the same consideration.

As a result of the TRO, the Defendants’ statements, and the cessation of Defendants’ operations, virtually all of Defendants’ sales agents sought employment elsewhere.

Many went to work for companies directly competing with Defendants, such as MWR Financial, Novae, Real Rise, Credit Repair Cloud, and Credit Cleanse.

Those who had teams of sales agents beneath them, such as Plaintiffs, often took those teams with them to their new company.

This was done with Defendants’ full knowledge and blessing.

In a decision even FES wasn’t expecting, the FTC was
denied a preliminary injunction
in July 2022. This saw the granted TRO expire.

FES was given permission to restart business operations, under supervision of a court-appointed monitor.

Plaintiffs recount their individual experiences after FES was allowed to resume business operations in the Amended Complaint.

Michelle Cofer
was a FES Executive Ambassador who earned $169,000 in 2021.

Cofer left FES for MWR Financial “with many agents from her (FES) team” in May 2022.

Cofer returned to FES in August 2022. She also maintained a Debt Cleanse business.

The Amended Complaint cites Debt Cleanse as “a licensed legal referral plan that focuses on assisting consumers with credit and consumer law problems.”

In September 2022, when she sought to enroll a new member in UWE, she learned that her access to Defendants’ computer systems had been terminated, preventing her from the entire business platform on which Defendants’ business operated.

When M. Cofer confronted management about the termination of her access, she was informed that her arrangement with Debt Cleanse violated a company policy.

However, many other agents still working with Defendants had similar business arrangements with other companies that

compete directly with Defendants, and none of these agents have been terminated b

🤖 Quick Answer

What is the Financial Education Services lawsuit about?

Who are the plaintiffs in the case against Financial Education Services?
The plaintiffs are Michelle Cofer, Keedic Cofer, Cortez Jenkins, Tameisha Jenkins, Geraldine Andre, Djivenino Andе, Marlon Hester Sr., and Monika Griffin. They filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against FES, which operates in Michigan under the trade name United Wealth Education.

When did the FTC take action against Financial Education Services?

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