JTV Sued for Discrimination

According to KnoxNews.com, Former Jewelry Television vice president Steve Gordon is suing JTV for age discrimination. He also alleges that JTV was involved in a plot to weed out all the employees who accrued high health care costs--known in legalese fancy talk as “a pretextual guise for discriminatory conduct.”

Steve was laid off as part of the company-wide workforce reduction back in May of last year. However, a month before he was terminated, Gordon said he met with two Jewelry Television executives who discussed the company’s increasing health-care costs, including those associated with his cancer treatment.

Steve was hired in 2004 after being recruited by then-CEO Robert Hall and then diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer in 2005. He claims that he was replaced with younger people (i.e. healthier), that they re-hired certain people, and that they tended to hire friends and family.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, maintains that Jewelry Television sought to eliminate employees who threatened the company’s objective of an independent public offering by increasing health insurance or workers’ compensation premiums. Steve is seeking $10 million in damages.

After the whole Andesine Labradorite debacle and jewelry sales being down across the board, JTV needs another lawsuit like it needs a hole in the head. I hope this isn't true. I hope that they aren't so heartless as to pull the rug out from someone diagnosed with cancer. But I know the realities of corporate America and nothing surprises me anymore.

Ghost Mine in the Sky with Diamonds

The andesine-labradorite mine owner, a miner, and Chiang Min (from JTV's Bangkok subsidiary) visiting the mine in Tibet.


JTV has expanded their “Learning Library” and they sure are busy promoting it! I took a look at it, and from what I can tell--aside from the standard textbook info on jewelry and gemstones--what they are really trying to do is give their side of the whole andesine-labradorite scandal in an “educational” format.

So what do they have to say?

First, the accusations, class-action lawsuit, and huge settlement in the millions of dollars are described simply as "a flurry of activity on red and green andesine-labradorite. " Cute. Iraq has had a flurry of activity these last few years too!

They also state that the so-called Tibetan "Ghost Mine in the Sky" is real and produces natural red andesine-labradorite. They "can confidently state that there is a mining camp and many deep holes in the ground ... There are numerous mine shafts at this mining site, which makes it less likely the site is a diversion or a hoax." The mine is lacking equipment, but they claim this is because they have to mine the stones by hand. However, they are still waiting on lab reports from the samples they collected at the Tibetan "Ghost Mine in the Sky."

JTV also claims that they have "not sold Mexican labradorite as andesine-labradorite." I guess they were accused of shipping the Mexican yellow labradorite to China so that they could claim it was was the more valuable andesine-labradorite. However, they say that they shipped the gems to China for faceting only and never tried to pass them off as anything but Mexican labradorite.

JTV’s "Jewel Hunter Jack" found mines on the China/Mongolia that yielded yellow stones, and when laboratory tested, these stones proved to be andesine-labradorite. The stones are copper-diffused to create red and green colors. "JTV has every reason to believe these mines are real and functioning. It was on this trip that Jewel Hunter Jack learned andesine-labradorite is mined as yellow and treated to transform the stones to red or green. At the time, the miners told Jack the stones were only heated. However, we have now learned they are actually color enhanced/diffused."

Since this has been a long, heated, and complicated issue, I would be very interested to hear a rebuttal from the other side. Anyone?

Jewelry Television Settles Class Action Lawsuit!

According to Knoxville television station, WBIR, Jewelry Television reached a preliminary class-action settlement with customers who claimed to received chemically altered gemstones instead of the all natural stones that were described on air.

The controversy over the andesine labradorite stones has been going on for some time now. You can read what I had to say about it here.

Although JTV admits no wrongdoing, the thousands of customers who bought the stones in question can get "cash refunds, store credit, or a combination of the two." Jewelry Television also has to better train their employees to avoid this from ever happening again.

Even though the settlement could cost the retailer several million dollars, Knoxville attorney, Greg Coleman, said that it was not their intent to put Jewelry Television out of business. "We realize they are a valuable employer in Knoxville but at the same time we have to be fair to the customers and the class."

If you think that you bought one of the gemstones and need to find out if you are eligible to take part in the class action settlement, contact Gary Coleman at 865-247-0080.

Jewelry Television: Too Little, Too Late

Jewelry Television (JTV)--the largest retailer of loose gemstones in the world--is now looking for a Consumer Protection Director to make sure they don't sell fake gems that they claim are real anymore.

JTV is "currently looking for an energetic leader with a passion for payments and fraud prevention to fill the role of Director in the Consumer Protection department." You can read the full posting here. Something tells me that the lawyers told them to create this position to prove how serious they were about protecting their customers.

My favorite part of the job description: Manage programs to monitor and reduce expense related to customer appeasements and returns. Customers are best appeased by not selling fake gems at real prices. Honestly! It doesn't take a high-priced, over-educated Consumer Protection Director to figure it out! Common sense, chickadees!

Jewelry Television Sued Again!

According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, a second false-advertising lawsuit has been filed against Knoxville-based Jewelry Television (JTV).

Just like the allegations the California woman is making against JTV, Theresa and Gary Hurd of Kodak, Tenn., are claiming the shopping network "fraudulently advertised and misrepresented" the gemstone andesine-labradorite as being "highly coveted" and "extremely rare." Both lawsuits seek in excess of $5 million and class-action status.

So what makes this one different? This brings Tennesse law into the mix and since JTV is located in Tennessee, that could spell trouble.

More Problems for Jewelry Television

As we reported yesterday, Jewelry Television is being sued for allegedly trying to pass off fake gems as real andesine-labradorite. Apparently, they were preparing for this news to hit, because a few weeks ago, they cut 200 jobs at their facility in Knoxville, TN. And these employees are understandably not happy.

Jewelry Television also got approval in 2005 for a 20-year tax break for a $20 million, 300,000-square-foot headquarters in West Knoxville. In February, though, execs said they hadn't made a final decision whether the project would move forward. Why did they suddenly put the brakes on the big move? Especially with such a big incentive to do it?

Gembusters is a website filled with disgruntled former employees and angry customers working towards a class action lawsuit. If you purchased labradorite from Jewelry Television, this would be a great place to go for information.

Here is a great article explaining the andesine-labradorite issue in-depth. And here is another great article detailing the science behind the stones.

Home shopping has lived with a terrible stigma since its inception. the big three (QVC, HSN, and ShopNBC) have been really stepping up their game to try to break out of the cheese fest. But bottom line, it doesn't matter how many great designers you bring in or how flashy you make the new morning show--customer trust is everything!

Jewelry Television Responds to Fake Gem Lawsuit

A recent lawsuit filed againt Jewelry Television alleges they sold stones that were "nothing more than the mass-produced result of chemical facelifts in gemological beauty parlors" that Jewelry Television acquired for "pennies per carat and sold … for extraordinary profits."

In response, Jewelry Television expressed disappointment that "one customer in California has filed litigation against us. This customer chose not to take advantage of our liberal return policies."

However, the lawsuit states that there was only "a brief return period which was not publicized or advertised, was ill-administered, and did not even begin to correct the harm that was done."

In a statement today, Jewelry Television said andesine-labradorite has been sold in the gem trade since 2002 as natural and untreated material.

"Lab reports from major laboratories have consistently confirmed these gemstones as natural and untreated. Jewelry Television, like other major retailers, relied upon the lab reports and general industry information," Jewelry Television said.

The company acknowledged that it had in January discovered one source for this gemstone that reported treating the stone.

"That information was promptly reported to our customers. As additional information has developed, JTV continued to keep customers informed. Much of the information in the lawsuit is totally incorrect and we are satisfied that Jewelry Television acted completely responsibly and the true facts will vindicate us," the company said.

Jewelry Television Sued!

The Associated Press is reporting that Jewelry Television is being sued for $5 million dollars by California woman, Marliese Weed, for allegedly trying to pass off "colorless or yellow common feldspar that had been chemically treated" as "gemstones described as rare and expensive red or green andesine labradorites."

As we all know, Queen Bea hearts fake diamonds ... but Queen Bea certainly does not want to pay the "real" price tag ($149 per carat) for the "fake" gem.

I checked the Jewelry Television webiste and all mention that andesine labordorites ever existed has been wiped clean. Even the blog is gone.