The state of California and YTB International have reached a tentative agreement to settle pending litigation, as confirmed in court papers filed by the state on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The attorney general’s office asked the court to postpone the trial date to allow more time for the parties to work out final details of an agreement. The trial is currently set for Sept. 21.
The issue is not so much the trial date but the intervening June 5 deadline for the state to file for a summary judgment. With June 5 as the target, the state said, it has scheduled a number of depositions for April which would be costly to the state and would prove unnecessary if a final agreement is hammered out to everyone’s satisfaction. A delayed trial date would delay all other case dates.
The state has accused YTB, a multilevel marketing travel company, of operating an illegal pyramid scheme and engaging in deceptive business practices.
"The parties believe they have reached a tentative agreement on most issues," James Toma, California's deputy attorney general, told the court.
But the parties need time to review relevant documents and finalize terms of the pact, according to the court document. The state said it believed it could finalize a settlement "within a reasonably short period of time."
Because negotiations are ongoing, YTB attorney Jonathan Quinn said he could not reveal proposed details of the agreement.
The tentative settlement, reached on Monday, was the outgrowth of court-mandated mediation that started on March 31.
Quinn said he expected the court to issue a ruling on April 13 regarding the request to delay the trial.
