Not a nice companyMannatech, several of its officers, and a chiropractor who was a major distributor are being sued by the mother of a child who died of Tay-Sachs disease whose photograph has been used to promote Mannatech products. According to the complaint:
* Mannatech distributors circulated a nude picture of the child and claimed that he had benefited from their products.
* The child actually died in 1997, shortly after using the products.
* The marketing campaign persisted until 2004 despite requests by child's mother to stop it.
The suit alleges intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional and negligent misrepresentation, invasion of privacy, and unfair competition. In February 2005, Sam Castor and Dr. Kathryn Dykman were voluntarily dismissed as defendants, but the suit continues against the others. [Note: To respect the plaintiff's privacy, her name and her son's name have been replaced by their initials (CS, YJS) in the document below.]