Landmark Education Withdraws Lawsuit Against Critic

Landmark Education Withdraws Lawsuit Against Rick Ross as a Result of Recent Court Decision

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ — Landmark Education, an international training and development company, has withdrawn its lawsuit initiated in New Jersey against Rick Ross containing a number of claims regarding his statements and actions that have unfairly damaged their business and relationships with customers and prospective customers. Landmark Education’s legal counsel withdrew the lawsuit as the result of a recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Court, which decision impacted Landmark Education’s claims against Ross. In light of this unforeseen development, Landmark Education determined that it was no longer feasible to pursue the claims against Ross and, based on this, the New Jersey court granted Landmark Education’s motion to dismiss the case.

Landmark Education is an educational enterprise that has been referred to as a global brand name in the field of personal development by Time Magazine and, in 2002, was recognized as one of the top leadership and development training program providers in the world by HR.com/James McNeil. Landmark Education General Counsel, Art Schreiber, said: “We had chosen to sue Rick Ross as a matter of principle on behalf of the over hundreds of thousands of people who have participated in and received value from Landmark Education programs. Mr. Ross, a vocal critic of Landmark Education although he has no first-hand experience and has never taken any of Landmark’s courses, repeatedly maligned Landmark Education with statements and innuendo that we are cult-like.”

Landmark Education had hoped to hold Mr. Ross to account for the validity of the information that he has put out on the internet. While Rick Ross holds himself out as an expert in the field of cults, he is a convicted felon and has no training in the field and has built his reputation and business through unsubstantiated postings on his web site.

Expert health professionals have studied Landmark Education and made it clear that there is nothing cult-like whatsoever about Landmark Education.

Dr. Raymond Fowler, former CEO of the American Psychological
Association, participated in and extensively researched the Landmark
Forum and stated his personal opinion that: “The Landmark Forum is not
a cult, or anything like a cult, and I do not see how any reasonable,
responsible person could say so.”

The late Dr. Margaret Singer, cult expert and author of Cults in Our
Midst, said: “I do not believe that either Landmark or the Landmark
Forum is a cult or sect, or meets the criteria of a cult or sect.”

Mr. Schreiber added: “We attempted to resolve this matter with Mr. Ross by sending him independent articles and studies about Landmark Education, requesting that he balance the assertions on his website with some of our materials. In addition, Landmark Education has invited him to take The Landmark Forum and/or monitor any one of the Landmark Education courses. However, at no time has Mr. Ross been willing to accept any of our requests.

“The lawsuit was not about stifling freedom of speech; we stand for people’s self-expression. The lawsuit was about holding Mr. Ross accountable for having repeatedly made or published false statements on his website that damaged the reputations of Landmark Education and the people who choose to take our programs, solely for the purpose of his own financial gain.”

Landmark Education, founded in 1991, has had over 850,000 people participate in its programs in over 20 countries. Independent surveys show that over 94% of Landmark Education customers said that The Landmark Forum has made a profound and lasting difference in their lives. For further information about Landmark Education, visit http://www.landmarkeducation.com.

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