Mullenweg & Automattic Sued in Class Action Filing Over WPE Dispute via @sejournal, @martinibuster

A caller suit seeking people enactment presumption alleges that WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg and Automattic engaged successful unfair concern practices to harm managed WordPress web big WP Engine (WPE) and its customers.

According to the lawsuit:

“Plaintiff and the people question equitable alleviation pursuant to Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17203 to extremity Defendants’ wrongful practices including requiring Defendants to cease its tortious interference with contract.”

…Plaintiff and the people besides question an bid requiring Defendants to marque afloat restitution of each monies it received done its wrongful conduct, on with each different alleviation permitted nether Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq.”

The suit makes aggregate claims against Mullenweg and Automattic:

• That defendants interfered with entree to WordPress resources, disrupting WPE customers.
• Interfered with customers’ quality to negociate their websites hosted connected WP Engine (WPE).
• The suit claims that the actions were not morganatic trademark enforcement efforts but a pretext for degrading WP Engine’s services and pressuring customers to leave.
• The ailment besides accuses the defendants of monopolistic behavior, alleging that they wielded power implicit the WordPress ecosystem for fiscal gain, harming WPE customers.

According to the ineligible filing:

“Defendants deliberately wielded their powerfulness implicit the WordPress.org website similar a cudgel, not lone blocking entree to the website but stealing resources similar the ACF plugin, forcing visitors to click a checkbox asserting they are not associated with WPE, publishing WPE lawsuit website addresses successful an effort to unit customers to permission WPE, and repeatedly threatening aboriginal consequences including the hazard of further work disruptions for people members who did not permission WPE. “

Why the Lawsuit Seeks Class Action Status

The ineligible filing asserts that the suit qualifies for people enactment certification based connected allegations that Mullenweg and Automattic engaged successful behaviour that harmed not conscionable the plaintiff but a broader radical of WP Engine (WPE) customers. The plaintiff contends that the defendants’ actions, including interfering with WPE’s services, blocking entree to indispensable WordPress tools, disrupting and degrading service, and pressuring customers to permission WPE, resulted successful harm that, according to the lawsuit, meets the criteria for people certification nether Rule 23. The suit claims that WPE customers faced work disruptions, fiscal losses, and imaginable information risks.

The justification for the people enactment is outlined successful paragraph 58 of the lawsuit:

“Plaintiff brings this enactment arsenic a people enactment pursuant to Rules 23(a) and 23(b)(1)-(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, connected behalf of himself, his concern and a Nationwide Class defined as:

All persons successful the United States who had ongoing progressive WPE WordPress Web Hosting Plans connected oregon earlier September 24, 2024 done December 10, 2024.”

The ineligible filing asserts that galore nationalist statements and tribunal records, including filings related to WP Engine, enactment the allegation that the defendants caused harm to the plaintiff and the alleged class. It past details the plaintiff’s idiosyncratic experiences arsenic further grounds of the alleged harm.

Section III, ‘Plaintiff’s Experiences,’ outlines however the defendant’s actions harmed the plaintiff, Keller, including:

• Service Disruptions
• Business and Financial Impact
• Personal Website Impact
• Security Risks
• Customer Relationship Concerns
• Consideration of Alternative Hosting

The ineligible filing details the following:

“Defendants’ interference importantly impacted the concern of Plaintiff Keller. While Plaintiff Keller was blessed with WPE services and intended to proceed utilizing WPE services, the work disruption and degraded service, coupled with repeated nationalist statements and threats made by Defendants, led Plaintiff to research moving his website and each those operated by his concern to different managed web host.

Plaintiff’s livelihood revolves astir gathering and operating websites, and important disruptions volition interaction his concern including his ain capableness to fulfill his contractual obligations to his ain clients.

Plaintiff Keller’s websites were importantly impacted by outages contempt WPE’s attempts to make workarounds.

Plaintiff Keller has had to walk important clip and disbursal responding to the work disruptions and degradations, preparing for moving his and his clients’ websites to a caller host, and successful investigating a caller big situation aft a agelong and palmy anterior concern with WPE. He is not unsocial successful the harm helium has suffered.

Plaintiff Keller’s idiosyncratic website was besides importantly impacted. Access to the WordPress backend was disposable intermittently, and Plaintiff Keller received emails related to this downtime.

Plaintiff Keller pays WPE $3,300 per twelvemonth for its “Scale Plan,” 2 further websites, and GeoTargeting and Multi-Site services. Due to Defendants’ actions, Plaintiff Keller was incapable to update his website successful a modular selling rhythm adjustment. Plaintiff Keller had to walk clip and disbursal to manage, update, and modify his website arsenic a effect of Defendants cutting disconnected WPE
from the WordPress ecosystem and therefore, did not person the payment of his bargain with WPE arsenic Plaintiff Keller had to bash the enactment that helium pays WPE for.”

A New Phase In Dispute Between Mullenweg/Automattic And WPE

This people enactment suit is simply a caller signifier successful the quality betwixt Mullenweg, Automattic and WP Engine. It expands the ineligible conflict to see claims from idiosyncratic customers. With allegations of unfair competition, monopolistic behavior, and deliberate work disruptions, the people enactment suit adds different furniture to a quality that has led immoderate successful the WordPress assemblage to telephone for a alteration successful governance to the WordPress unfastened root project.

Read the substance of the suit here: (PDF)

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