Jessica Kruger poses for a picture at her law firm in Orem on Thursday July 8, 2021. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
PLEASANT GROVE – Jessica Kruger rolled on an essential oil blend almost five years ago that was designed to help relieve menstrual cramps, but instead of providing relief, she said she suffered severe burns.
Now the 33-year-old Holladay real estate agent claims in a lawsuit that the doTerra product contained more than 23 times the amount of bergamot oil – the same substance used to make Earl Gray tea – which would make a person hypersensitive can cause UV rays when applied to the skin. It had burned others in the past, but the company resold it without warning before Kruger ended up in an emergency room, the lawsuit said.
“I come from a football family of brothers, NFL players. I can take a lot. And that was crazy,” said Kruger, also an excellent amateur mixed martial artist. “I’d rather have been punched in the face to be honest.”
She sued in 2016 and her legal battle against the multilevel marketing firm based in Pleasant Grove is progressing after the Utah Supreme Court gave her a minor win last week.
When Kruger signed a contract to become the Wellness Advocate, the company’s designation for its distributors, the judges found that it did not write off a future right to sue for a financial prize to punish the company for alleged wrongdoing.
DoTerra is excited to present its side in court.
“The preliminary proceedings of the Supreme Court were limited to a provision of the contract between doTerra and Ms. Kruger – whether she waived a right to punitive damages. While we were surprised by the decision regarding the terms of the contract, we look forward to the time when Ms. Krüger. Kruger and doTerra can present our respective cases in court, which is likely months away from the start, “doTerra executives said in a statement made available to KSL.com on Friday.
DoTerra appealed after a Provo lower court ruled in favor of Kruger. His lawyers argued that punitive damages were off the table because of the contract she signed.
Kruger doesn’t want others to endure their pain, she said, noting that many of the traders are women and some co-parents whose children are using the oils.
“If I had an 11, 12-year-old daughter who was on her period and this happened to her, it would be a bloody problem for me as a mother,” said Kruger. “These huge corporations like this need to know it’s wrong.”
Kruger had friends who sold the company’s products and was drawn to the doTerra company by his natural approach, she said. After becoming a saleswoman, she decided to try an oil blend called ClaryCalm and apply it to her stomach and lower back on November 17, 2015, according to her lawsuit. Later in the day, she made a rare trip to a solarium to prepare for her brother’s wedding.
She doesn’t usually get sunburned, but the same areas where she put the oil on started to burn that night. On the third day, she said the pain was excruciating.
Doctors at American Fork Hospital diagnosed her with second and third degree burns, she recalled. About a week later, at the wedding, “I remember being in extreme pain there but still trying to put a smile on my face,” she said.
Attorney Blake Johnson said his client would have had a similar effect if exposed to natural sunlight. And while doTerra doesn’t say the contract stopped Kruger from seeking damages to cover medical expenses or lost workdays, it’s important that the jury have an opportunity to award her the kind of payment that might deter other companies to do the same he said. Kruger did not provide a dollar amount.
Not only does this month’s ruling have an impact on essential oil lovers who use the plant extracts for therapeutic purposes ranging from stress relief to relieving the effects of chronic illness, Johnson said, but it’s a good thing for anyone shopping online as well You have to scroll through legal jargon and click on “Agree”, but will later be damaged in some way by the product or service.
If the judges had sided with his client, “there is a risk that companies will run amok and not have to assert claims for damages,” he said.
A broad clause that shields the company from liability is not specific enough to thwart Kruger’s legal rights, wrote Judge Paige Petersen in the opinion published earlier this month.
In a concurring statement, Judge Deno Himonas wrote that any contract that prevents a person from seeking punitive damages violates state law which aims to “prevent individuals from financially protecting themselves against their own bad behavior”.
Federal regulators classify the oils as cosmetics, so they’re not as regulated as foods or drugs, and there isn’t a public government database of related violations, Johnson noted. He and Kruger are trying to draw attention to a lack of oversight in the industry by claiming that some dangerous products can remain in the market without a warning.
The company later changed the ingredients of the product Kruger used, the lawsuit alleges, but at that point it alleged several others had similar experiences.
Paralegal Jacque Findlay said Kruger is one of many who sign up as distributors, primarily to get a wholesale discount or simply to have an abundance of products for their own use and not plan to sell much of their inventory.
“While doTerra is a global company, this decision is such a big deal for Utah because there are a lot of MLMs here,” said Findlay.
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