An events manager is suing her former Herbalife bosses for more than £250,000 after she was thrown into a swimming pool by drunken salesmen at a luxury hotel on Mauritius.
Chloe Hewitt, 26, from Weybridge, Surrey, said she emerged from the water of the five star resort pool covered in blood after landing on broken drinks glasses, sustaining nerve damage which has since required two operations and physiotherapy.
She had been thrown in the pool ‘in jest’ by intoxicated ‘distributors’ who had been enjoying a ‘free bar’ at the paradise island event organised by the health drinks brand to reward its high-selling salesmen.
Miss Hewitt is now suing the company’s European arm, Uxbridge-based Europe Ltd, claiming more than £250,000 in damages on the basis that it had not done enough to ensure the boozy event was safe.
But Herbalife is denying liability, arguing that the accident occurred during an ‘after party’ which took place when the company’s event had ended and when Miss Hewitt was no longer on the clock.
The 26-year-old began working for the company in June 2020, and was sent to Mauritius’ Five-Star Paradis Hotel for a training and team-building event, to which Herbalife distributors who had achieved qualifying high sales were invited.
The hotel is part of the Beachcomber Resort, on the island’s Le Morne peninsula, which features an 18-hole golf course, bars, swimming pools, and where every room is oriented towards the sea.
Her accident happened at the event’s ‘farewell party’ which took place on June 4, 2022, including dinner, a DJ and a free bar, says her barrister Matthew Chapman KC in documents recently filed at the High Court.
‘At around midnight on 4 June 2022, the DJ continued to play music and the free bar continued to serve drinks,’ he says.
‘The dance floor was located next to the resort swimming pool. Drinks were provided in glasses, rather than plastic containers, and there was broken glass on and around the dance floor. Some of the party-goers were exhibiting obvious signs of intoxication. There were no security staff on duty.
‘After midnight, the claimant observed a French employee of the defendant being picked up and carried by male party-goers who appeared to be drunk. Despite his protestations to be put down, the party-goers threw the member of staff into the resort swimming pool.
‘Other members of the defendant’s employed staff were then pushed or thrown into the swimming pool. Suddenly, the claimant was pushed from behind into the swimming pool. She was fully-dressed and was wearing make-up at the time.
‘The claimant protested and, as she exited the swimming pool, asked not to be pushed again. She could hear people remonstrating with the responsible party-goers and asking them to calm down.
‘The claimant was then pushed forcefully and unexpectedly from behind and back into the swimming pool. The claimant was completely submerged under the water and the force of her entry carried her to the base of the swimming pool where she caught her foot on an object lying there and felt an immediate, sharp pain.
‘The claimant had caught her foot on broken glass debris which was on the bottom of the swimming pool, having found its way there from glasses containing drinks served at the farewell party.’
Miss Hewitt was treated at a local hospital and again back in England to repair a nerve in her foot, but Mr Chapman says she has been left with ‘significant pain and stiffness, loss of sensation and loss of movement’ in her right foot, which is likely to be permanent.
Suing Herbalife, Miss Hewitt’s lawyers say it is responsible for her injury because it did not do enough to ensure she was safe, having allowed its partygoing distributors to carry glasses onto the dancefloor and close to the swimming pool, and also having allowed free drinks to be served to ‘clearly intoxicated’ partygoers.
‘The claimant will say that accidents of this kind do not usually occur without negligence in the conduct of the relevant operation,’ says her barrister. ‘Accordingly, the claimant will say that the facts of the accident speak for themselves.’
In its written defence to the action, Herbalife denies responsibility for anything its distributors did, pointing out that ‘Herbalife members’ are people who run independent businesses selling its products, while its employee Miss Hewitt was off the clock by the time of the accident anyway.
The free bar element of the party had only lasted an hour, says its barrister Rory Holmes, while the entire Herbalife event was finished at midnight, after which Miss Hewitt was no longer working.
‘At midnight, there was an announcement on stage for the purpose of the distributors that the event had finished and the Paradis bar was staying open where drinks could be purchased from the hotel at the expense of the distributors,’ Mr Holmes says.
‘Once the farewell party ended, the claimant’s time was her own. She was no longer on duty.
‘The claimant was naturally free to spend her personal time however she wanted – she could have gone to bed, she could have gone for a walk in the hotel grounds, she could have chosen to be on her own, she could have chosen to socialise with whomever she wished.’
Instead she had chosen to congregate with the distributors by the pool, with the event DJ agreeing to move his equipment and begin a new set there.
‘At some point shortly before the claimant’s accident, some of the French distributors decided to push or throw other members of the group, including some of the defendant’s staff members, into the pool.
‘This was intended to be in jest, however one of the defendant’s members of staff asked the relevant distributors to calm down.
‘The claimant was sitting at high tables to the side of the bar area with other members of staff. She was pushed/thrown into the pool on at least one occasion.
‘As the claimant exited the pool, having been thrown in, it was noted that she had a laceration to her foot.
‘It is not admitted that the claimant cut her foot on broken glass debris which was on the bottom of the swimming pool, having found it way there from glasses containing drinks at farewell party.’
He said Miss Hewitt had said at the time that she thought she had cut herself not on broken glass, but on a rounded light, possibly an uplighter which had fallen into the pool.
‘The defendant does not condone the actions of the distributors who threw members of the group into the pool,’ Mr Holmes continued.
‘The defendant asked the distributors to calm down, which was a reasonable and proportionate response given what was known at the time.’
‘The defendant was entitled to rely, and did rely, upon a reasonably held belief that, at a luxury five-star hotel with a good record, the hotel’s premises/systems would be reasonably safe.
‘For the avoidance of doubt, it is not the defendant’s case that the hotel’s premises, systems etc were unsafe.’
Miss Hewitt’s claim was recently filed at the High Court, but the case has not yet gone before a judge. It will now go forward to a full trial, unless settled by the parties outside of court.
Herbalife is a worldwide ‘direct-selling’ company, founded in 1980 to sell weight loss shakes, but expanding to produce other nutritional products, which it sells in more than 90 countries.
It has attracted controversy, having denied claims of having a ‘pyramid’ type sales structure.
