NPA's Former CFO Alleges Improper Expenses By Fabricant, Religious And Gender Harassment

CEO Daniel Fabricant and the NPA board's president say former CFO Brent Weickert's allegations in a complaint filed in California state court are baseless. Weickert, with NPA from 1997 until October, says he was dismissed after he stated his concerns to NPA's board and to Fabricant.

Natural Products Association leadership could face industry scrutiny as a former employee alleges the trade group ignored his complaints that NPA CEO Daniel Fabricant charged improper expenses and created a hostile work environment.

Fabricant and the trade group board's president deny the allegations by Brent Weickert, NPA's former chief financial officer.

Fabricant referred questions about the complaint to an attorney and said Weickert's "claims are completely baseless and utter nonsense and we'll certainly defend ourselves and the organization in due course."

Roxanne Green, president of NPA's board of directors and an executive with the Seattle-area PCC Natural Markets chain, also pledged to disprove the allegations.

"We will vigorously defend the case and are confident we will prevail. We are well aware of this litigation. We have the utmost confidence in Dr. Fabricant and his ability to continue leading the organization which he has helped to expand, modernize, and strengthen the natural products industry,” said Green in an NPA statement.

Weickert stated in a complaint filed in California state court that he exhausted the administrative remedies for contesting his dismissal that are available through the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing before filing a complaint, working with the department, against NPA and Fabricant in November and receiving a notice of his right to sue to recover for alleged losses and other damages linked to violations of California employment and other laws.

Weickert’s complaint states he was dismissed in October following his complaints about Fabricant’s conduct to Fabricant and the NPA board.

Weickert's suit was transferred to California federal court before being moved to US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Richard Oparil, of Porzio, Bromberg & Newmanin P.C. in Washington, who is representing NPA and Fabricant, said that in pending motions, he has asked the court to dismiss and strike some of Weickert's claims and allegations.

Weickert was NPA’s CFO and senior VP from 1997 until his dismissal. He alleges that no reason was given for his termination and that it was the result of his complaints.

To FDA And Back

In addition to stating Weickert's allegations about Fabricant's conduct, the complaint notes that Fabricant left a post with NPA in 2011 to work as director of FDA's Division of Dietary Supplement Programs and returned to the trade group as executive director and CEO in 2014 (Also see "Trade Groups Dismiss Jarrow’s Criticism Of FDA’s Fabricant" - Pink Sheet, 5 Sep, 2011.).

Weickert’s complaint alleges that during his initial employment with NPA, Fabricant received complaints that he created a hostile work environment through religious harassment and gender discrimination and by being "vindictive when anyone questioned his behavior." It argues that NPA should not have named Fabricant to succeed John Shaw as CEO in 2014.

"NPA owed a duty to its employees, to ensure that any employee hired would not harm the interests of NPA as a whole, or the rights of individual employees. NPA breached this duty by failing to exercise due care in re-hiring Fabricant after he ended his tenure with the FDA, as NPA had plenty of notice of Fabricant's prior illegal and unethical behavior," the complaint states.

"NPA's breach of duty was a substantial factor in causing" Weickert's damages, including a loss of earnings and benefits, reputational harm and emotional distress, according to the complaint.

The complaint states that in "a lengthy letter" to Green in May 2015, Weickert described what he said were Fabricant's conduct and actions that allegedly discriminated against and harassed NPA staff and threatened the group's standing.

The letter claimed that Fabricant was charging expenses from "strip clubs" on the "company credit card," and writing large checks without informing Weickert or forwarding him invoices. He said Fabricant “entered into agreements without the required review, and required [Weickert] to pay invoices that went against the directions of the executive committee."

Weickert also stated in the letter that a female employee "had recently called him sobbing to complain about" Fabricant.

The complaint states that Green acknowledged receipt of the letter and told Weickert "an investigation would take place" based on information in the letter and in a separate communication from Weickert alleging other inappropriate conduct by Fabricant.

NPA counsel Oparil said "outside counsel conducted a full inquiry into Mr. Weickert's allegations and the matter was concluded, months ago."

Weickert is represented by attorneys Kathleen Hartman and Suren Weerasijriya of Callahan, Thompson, Sherman & Caudill LLP in Irvine, Calif., according to the complaint.

Signal For Scrutiny?

The complaint filed about 18 months after Fabricant returned to NPA could spur discussion about the trade group's leadership.

A staunch critic, Jarrow Rogovin, founder and president of Los Angeles supplement firm [Jarrow Formulas Inc.], questioned Fabricant’s appointment at FDA and continued pressing the agency to dismiss him from the post during his tenure before criticizing NPA for bringing him back as CEO (Also see "Trade Groups Dismiss Jarrow’s Criticism Of FDA’s Fabricant" - Pink Sheet, 5 Sep, 2011.) .

Rogovin criticized Fabricant’s transition from promoting the supplement industry as an NPA executive to conducting enforcement against manufacturers and other firms as an FDA official. He contended that the actions of Fabricant and others at FDA resulted in a negative portrayal of the industry by the media. He filed Freedom of Information Act requests with FDA for documents, which he said reflected Fabricant’s “negative statements” to media about supplement manufacturers and their products.

While NPA and other trade groups dismissed Rogovin's criticism of Fabricant's work at FDA and the decision to appoint him to NPA's helm, the complaint by Weickert could prompt scrutiny of NPA's leadership, Rogovin and other stakeholders said.

"I tried really, really hard to get the NPA board to pay attention," Rogovin said in an email.

Discussions previously have emerged on combining all or some of the trade groups representing the dietary supplement industry, including herbal product firms, ingredient suppliers and retailers as well as vitamin and mineral product manufacturers and marketers.

Rogovin and other stakeholders note the interest from some in combining the industry's trade groups, but say that NPA and each of the others are needed as separate organizations.

Rogovin said he supports NPA continuing, but with some changes. "A mid-cap organization that brings in industry people to lobby to Congress is needed. Because of that, the NPA needs to survive but it needs to be fundamentally restructured," he said.

"It's such a broad industry, it's hard to achieve" representation to Congress and state governments through a single organization, said an executive from another firm.