2023 0720 - LC - Statement of Claim - Injunction - Primerica - Marco Mouhkaiber - [Always Marco] - 12p

  • 1-2 - 1. The Plaintiffs, Primerica----- bring this claim as a result of the Defendant, Marco Moukhaiber’s (“Mr. Moukhaiber”), repeated pernicious attacks against Primerica on Mr. Moukhaiber’s social media channels, where he regularly makes the unfounded and defamatory assertions that, inter alia, Primerica is an “illegal pyramid scheme” that engages in “criminal fraud” with the intent of harming Primerica and enriching himself.
  • 2 - Plaintiff.... seeks.... damages in compensation for the harm caused by Mr. Moukhaiber.
  • 2 - 4. Mr. Moukhaiber is a social media content creator based in Edmonton, Alberta, who earns revenue from creating and posting content and selling merchandise.
    Mr. Moukhaiber’s Social Media Campaign against Primerica
  • 2 - 5. Beginning on or around December 14, 2021, Mr. Moukhaiber has posted various videos discussing Primerica to his multiple social media accounts.
  • 3 - 10. Mr. Moukhaiber has created and posted the following videos in particular, which are collectively referred to herein as the “Primerica Videos”:
  • 4 - (d) - He also states among other things that Primerica has a “cult culture” and is an “illegal pyramid scheme”. This video includes multiple factual inaccuracies.
  • 4 - (e) - Primerica is predatory, like a cult.
  • 5 - (h) - “commercial cult.”
  • 5 - (i) - Mario Arrizon - “Crimerica” and “Primericult”. - Primerica's internal training videos which features Primerica training representatives. In this video, Mr. Moukhaiber seeks donations to “Help Defeat Primerica”. Mr. Moukhaiber also displays and reads a copy of Primerica’s Social Media Guidelines Handbook and states he will post
    “daily examples of top leaders of Primerica posting stuff that violates their social media guidelines.” Mr. Moukhaiber states that Primerica engages in “criminal fraud”, that Primerica’s business is “crime” and “fraud”, and “is a FisherPrice playset of business, it is not real, it is completely fake, it is a scam, it is a fraud, it is a con, it is a pyramid.”
  • 5 - 11. Also on July 14, 2023, Mr. Moukhaiber made a guest appearance on a YouTube video posted by Pocket Watching with JT, entitled “Multi-level Marketing (MLM) SCAMS Exposed! with @AlwaysMarco”. In this video, Mr. Moukhaiber states that Primerica is “definitely a multilevel marketing company [...] in my opinion it is a pyramid scheme.” Mr. Moukhaiber goes on to say that “the way Primerica does this is they say we don’t make money when we recruit anybody we’ll never get paid for recruiting [...] okay so you’re just selling well we know that’s not true or that’s not likely”. Finally, in respect of Primerica, “oftentimes what they try to do is they know they can’t make sense of what their business plan is logically so they just try to bombard you with metaphors and analogies and Law of Attraction mindset nonsense until eventually you just bang your head against the wall and go okay”.
  • 6 - 13. On April 14, 2023, Primerica’s counsel sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mr. Moukhaiber. Mr. Moukhaiber displayed and discussed the contents of this letter in the April 14, 2023 Primerica Video and refused to comply with the requests made in the letter.
  • 6 - 14. On July 16, 2023, Primerica’s counsel sent another cease-and-desist letter to Mr. Moukhaiber. That same day, Mr. Moukhaiber made a number of posts to Instagram discussing and displaying the letter. Mr. Moukhaiber refused to comply with the requests made in the letter.
  • 6 - Breaches of Primerica’s Statutory Rights
    • Breaches of the Trademarks Act
    • 8 - Breaches of the Copyright Act
    • 9 - Competition Act
      • for the purpose of promoting his own business interests.
      • 28. By reasons of these activities, Mr. Moukhaiber has made representations to the public that are false or misleading in material respects for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, Mr. Moukhaiber’s business interests, contrary to subsection 52(1) of the Competition Act, RSC 1985, c C-34 (the “Competition Act”).
  • 9 - Defamation
    • 30. The Primerica Videos amount to defamation. The Primerica Videos and Social Media Posts include multiple defamatory statements that are published by Mr. Moukhaiber. Among other things, they communicate to the public unfounded, untrue and damaging statements that Primerica is engaged in unlawful activities and is an illegal “pyramid scheme” and a “scam.” Primerica is plainly identifiable both in the images and the statements used in the Primerica Videos and Social Media Posts. The Primerica Videos and Social Media Posts harm Primerica’s business reputation and goodwill.
    • 31. Mr. Moukhaiber has no defence for his defamatory statements.
    • 32. As a result of Mr. Moukhaiber’s defamatory comments in the Primerica Videos and Social Media Posts, Primerica has suffered, and is likely to continue to suffer, damages in the form of loss of reputation and goodwill among its customers and licensed representatives.
    • 10 - 33. Primerica is also seeking punitive and aggravated damages due to the purposeful, repeated, and malicious nature of the Primerica Videos and Social Media Posts.
  • 10 - Harassment
    • 34. Mr. Moukhaiber’s conduct in relation to the Primerica Videos and Social Media Posts constitutes tortious harassment.
    • 35. Mr. Moukhaiber has engaged in repeated communications, surveillance, and other harassing behaviour both in the Primerica Videos and in order to obtain content for the Primerica Videos, from which Mr. Moukhaiber derives commercial benefit.
      • Mr. Moukhaiber has, among other things, recorded Primerica representatives without their consent, obtained confidential information from Primerica, obtained and posted copies of private text messages between Primerica representatives, and monitors and posts the online activity of Primerica employees and representatives.
    • 36. Mr. Moukhaiber knew or ought to have known that his conduct was unwelcome.
    • 37. Mr. Moukhaiber’s conduct impugns the dignity of, and causes emotional distress to, Primerica and the representatives he posts about in the Primerica Videos, which causes harm.
    • 38. Primerica is also seeking punitive and aggravated damages due to the purposeful, repeated, and malicious nature of Mr. Moukhaiber’s conduct in relation to the Primerica Videos and Social Media Posts.
  • 10 - REMEDIES SOUGHT: