Bjarte Rene, CEO of Private Label Nutraceuticals LLC,  filed a  defamation lawsuit against AtCost Fulfillment DBA Fulfillment.com, or more accurately the holding company Vanguard Economics, LLC and alleging that its owner, Richard Andrew Gorman, is responsible. If the allegations prove to be founded, it would appear that a pattern is emerging based on the similar lawsuit referenced at the bottom of this page.

Rich Gorman is allegedly a registered sex offender, with numerous charges filed, but disposition unknown (see references in foot notes) Pennsylvania State Police Sex Offender Listing for RA Gorman

The nexus of the quarrel seems to be summarized in paragraph 15 of the second amended complaint which reads as follows:

“On information and belief, in late 2013, Gorman became angry with Rene because he believed that Rene sought to hire away a key employee of AtCost Fulfillment. On further information and belief, Gorman was extremely angry over his impression of what had occurred. Gorman, who has a prior criminal record and is known for his hot temper, has special expertise in on line branding and reputational management, which would necessarily include special knowledge as to how to inflict damage to the reputation of an individual or entity via online postings.”

Caution, do not draw conclusions yet!

This case is only just been brought to our attention. Although we have no reason to suspect bad faith in this case, it is not uncommon for plaintiffs, who are au fait with search engine optimization, to launch an internet defamation campaign against a competitor,  by using a lawsuit as a weapon, without being liable for defamation due to the privilege that comes with the public filing in court. A few little red flags pop up with a cursory review of this complaint, particularly with respect to the little snippet in paragraph 15 of the complaint (in bold above) that add no legal substance to the complaint, but does set the stage for prospective customers of Fulfillment.com, who might stumble across the complaint. This interpretation of the intent of the lawsuit is further evidenced by the conspicuous press releases issued by the plaintiffs such as this one.

If we take the lawsuit at face value in good faith, then the use of press releases as a prudent and legitimate way for the Plaintiffs to mitigate some of the damage being suffered because of the alleged wrongdoing by Gorman.  In most jurisdictions, a victim of defamation has a legal obligation, inasmuch as it is possible, to mitigate damage that is being done by the defamatory acts of others. In other words, plaintiffs can not just sit back and expect a jackpot jury verdict when they had the ability to act, but did not.

Other Criminal Records for Richard Andrew Gorman (NOTE This open spurce info HAS NOT been verified):

Similar defamation lawsuit filed in 2014 against Gorman, Brand.com et al:

JOHN MONARCH, an individual; DIRECT OUTBOUND SERVICES LLC vs. RICHARD A. GORMAN and SACHA JAKMIAN, aka SACHA GORMAN, husband and wife; GORMAN ECONOMICS, LLC, VANGUARD ECONOMICS, LLC, dba AT COST FULFILLMENT, dba FULFILLMENT.COM; AT COST NUTRACEUTICALS, LLC, a BRAND.COM, INC.