11-800-LAW-FIRMAlyson Oliver (P55020)Ari Kresch (P29593)24100 Southfield Road Ste. 305Southfield, MI 480751-800-LAW-FIRM
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTIN THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGANSOUTHERN DIVISION
_________________________________________Case No.CAITLIN DEMETSENARE,Individually and all othersSimilarly situated,Plaintiffs,COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATION OF:Vs. RACKETEER INFLUENCED ANDCORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT,CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT,UNJUST ENRICHMENT,STEFANI GERMANOTTA,aka LADY GAGA;
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
ATE MY HEART, INC.,A California Corporation,MERMAID MUSIC, L.L.C;A New York Corporation,HOUSE OF GAGA PUBLISHING, INC.A New York Corporation,BRAVADO INTERNATIONAL GROUPMERCHANDISING SERVICES INC.,A Foreign Corporation,LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT INC.,A Delaware Corporation,LIVE NATION MERCHANDISE INC.,A Delaware Corporation,UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP INC.,A Delaware Corporation.Defendants._________________________________________
2Plaintiff Caitlin DeMetsenare, (“Plaintiffs”), individually and on behalf of all otherssimilarly situated, by their undersigned counsel, allege the following upon personal knowledgeas to their own acts and, as to all other allegations, upon information and belief and aninvestigation by counsel, which included review of publicly available documents, and interviewswith confidential witnesses.
INTRODUCTION
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in thedarkness of destructive selfishness”.
Helping those less fortunate than ourselves is laudable, especially when the assistance isso timely, soneeded and so pervasive. But when the good deed of giving is tarnished byinexplicable contradictions of fact and numbers, everyone from the donor to the recipient andthose in between are in jeopardy of losing the benefit of the intended altruism.
NATURE OF THE ACTION
1.
This is a class action brought individually by Plaintiff and on behalf of a class of persons similarly situated, (“Class Members”), who sent money to or through Defendant StefaniGermonatta, (“Lady Gaga”) and/or other named Defendants (collectively known as“Defendants”) by way of web, telephone, or mail transaction for the “Lady Gaga JapanEarthquake Relief Wristband” (“Wristband”) as referred to on Defendant’s marketing website:ladygaga.shop.bravadousa.com (“Website”), four years from the first-filed complaint in thisaction until the final disposition of this and any and all related cases (the “Class Period”).2.
On March 11, 2011 a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Northeast Japan nearSendai triggering a tsunami wave and causing widespread devastation.
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Lady Gaga is an undeniably talented international celebrity, providing music andentertainment to millions of dedicated fans who support her and enjoy her music.4.
Defendants, with the support of Lady Gaga, designed, marketed and distributedthe Wristband to the public in a well publicized effort to alleviate the destruction caused by theearthquake in Japan. Defendants used the Wristband to encourage donations to this cause(“Relief Effort”).5.
Defendant Lady Gaga with the other Defendants affirmatively represented, viainternet video postings and various other media outlets, “all proceeds” from the Wristband wouldgo to aid in Japan by stating, “All proceeds go directly to Japan Relief Efforts,” (“SubjectFunds”).6.
Plaintiffs allege Defendants misrepresented to individuals and to the public atlarge, the nature of the funds tendered for the Wristbands by representing that “all proceeds”derived from the Wristbands would be donated to the Relief Effort. Defendants failed to allocatethe funds as claimed.7.
Specifically, Defendants falsely represented that all proceeds derived from theWristbands would be and later was donated to the Relief Efforts.8.
A portion of the first five dollars of each donation were retained by Defendants.These funds are included in the “Subject Funds”.9.
Not only did Defendants retain a portion of the first five dollars of the donation asset forth above, they also added additional “shipping charges” in excess of the amount requiredto ship the Wristbands based on their weight, and retained a portion of the shipping charges.These funds are included in the “Subject Funds”.10.
Additionally, consumers were taxed for their donations wrongfully, and thewrongfully levied taxes were not forwarded to the appropriate taxing authorities in theappropriate time frame. These funds are included in the “Subject Funds”.
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