Who knew helping people cut the sizes of their waists could lead to a court battle?
Nevertheless, LittleTinyWaist.com and MyBodyRocker.com, or at least the companies with those websites, have ended up in the legal system.
And it wouldn’t be a complete court fight in Southern California without a reality show participant at the center of the dispute.
A company that sells and distributes a waist trainer to reduce the size of customers’ mid-sections filed suit Thursday against a reality show participant for allegedly using the firm’s product to help a competitor while accusing the plaintiff of fraud.
Mills Modeling & Entertainment LLC filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Erica Mena, alleging trade libel, defamation, interference with economic relations and both intentional and negligent interference with prospective business relations.
The suit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction directing Mena to stop disparaging the Mills product and to turn over any profits she has made from allegedly trying to claim the waist trainer is hers.
A representative for Mena could not be immediately reached for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Mills markets a waist trainer that can be found on MyBodyRocker.com.
Mena agreed to promote the trainer for Mills in 2014 by using her social media accounts and to not speak on behalf of any competing brands, the suit states.
However, Mena used photos and videos paid for by Mills on a third-party website, LittleTinyWaist.com, a direct competitor of the plaintiff, the suit states.
In July, Mena posted on her social media accounts false statements about Mills, including “I found out they’ve been using me to take your money” and “I have tons of proof from numerous customers who have been robbed by them,” according to the lawsuit.
Mena also claimed Mills was using her image to promote their product, but not shipping orders despite receiving customer payments, the suit states.
That same month, Mena stamped the word “FRAUD” on one of her social media accounts along with the image of her wearing the MyBodyRocker waist trainer, the suit alleges.
The statements prompted Mena’s followers to call the Mills product a “scam” and to drop plans to buy the device, the suit states.
Mena, 32, made appearances in the reality show “Love & Hip Hop: New York,” and wrote the books “Chronicles of a Confirmed Bachelorette” and “Underneath It All.”
—City News Service