Business torts cover a wide range of actions against companies
Business torts filed in Georgia may involve disputes between two companies or in some instances, they may be asserted by consumers against a company. One company may accuse another of interfering with its contractual or business relations with customers, or it may assert various forms of unfair or unscrupulous competition that go beyond contractual issues. In the consumer complaints category, such business torts may include claims that a company falsely advertised its services or products.
There are numerous statutes in each state that set forth the elements of various protective tort actions that consumers can make against companies. There is also a body of common law in each state that may define other business torts and their required elements. The consumer claim was recently highlighted when a group of women filed a class action against InventHelp, the self-professed largest invention assistance company in the country.
The plaintiffs filed their action in a New York state court, claiming that they went to InventHelp for assistance with their inventions and got virtually nothing except a string of more bills. They allege that the promised services were not provided. They are asserting counts of false advertising, fraud, breach of contract and other torts. They are asking for $33 million in damages against the Pittsburgh company.
The company replied that it does not mislead or misinform. It says it makes clear that very few inventors ever make it with their inventions. It states on its website that it had 6,564 clients sign up between 2015 and 2017, but that 166 of them received license agreements. Only 49 of InventHelp’s clients, which comes to 0.7 percent, received more money than they put in.
The women who filed the complaint allege that the defendant worked in concert with a number of other shady enterprises that did not provide what they promised but did take them for more money along the way. In Georgia and elsewhere, a business torts case for a substantial amount of damages does not have to be brought as a class action. It can be filed as a lone lawsuit, setting forth the case and the damages sustained.
Source: westfaironline.com, “Would-be inventors accuse InventHelp of fraud, seek $36M“, Bill Heltzel, Feb. 7, 2018