New Federal Fraud Lawsuit Filed: Hollingsworth v. Sanofi et al.
Filed December 11, 2025 — U.S. District Court, District of Oregon
Case No. 3:25-cv-2308-SB
On December 11, 2025, I filed a new federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon against Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, Chattem Inc., Quten Research Institute LLC, AMJ Services LLC, and Steven S. Dickert, in his capacity as Trustee of Basil Management Trust.
This case is not a wage dispute. It is a federal fraud and concealment action that arose only after a routine unpaid-wage issue exposed a much broader corporate structure operating behind the “Direct Demo” brand.
How This Case Began
The matter originated as a claim for approximately $637.15 in unpaid wages following my work as a W-2 product demonstrator inside Oregon Costco warehouses. When the entity listed on my paystubs—DRVM LLC—failed to pay, I reviewed public records to determine who was legally responsible.
That review showed that DRVM LLC was a revoked and unregistered shell entity during my entire period of employment. Further investigation revealed that DRVM was part of a larger, long-running network of Nevada-based entities sharing the same address, officers, trust ownership, and operational functions.
What the Investigation Revealed
The complaint alleges that a single, unified enterprise operated through layers of shell companies and trusts to conceal the identity of the true employer while directing a nationwide demonstrator workforce. According to public filings, payroll records, and corporate registrations:
• Multiple entities tied to the workforce shared the same Nevada address and officers.
• Employee-facing systems, training materials, and handbooks identified companies different from the entity listed on wage and tax documents.
• Payroll for different product lines was commingled and routed through defunct or inactive entities.
• After whistleblower disclosures and arbitration filings, the same shell entities were retroactively activated across multiple states, rather than being lawfully registered during the time employees were working.
The investigation further traced operational and financial control upstream to Sanofi-Aventis U.S., through its subsidiaries Chattem and Quten, following Sanofi’s 2023 acquisition of Quten Research Institute.
Multi-Forum Proceedings and Why This Case Is Separate
Before this filing, related issues were pending in:
• JAMS arbitration, limited solely to a narrow wage claim against DRVM LLC;
• A Department of Labor Taxpayer First Act retaliation proceeding, arising from federal whistleblower disclosures; and
• A prior petition to compel arbitration in federal court.
On November 24, 2025, the Court ruled that only DRVM LLC could be compelled to arbitrate—and only on the narrow wage issue—because the other entities were not signatories to the arbitration agreement. That ruling left all enterprise-level issues, including fraud, concealment, alter-ego liability, and civil conspiracy, outside arbitration and appropriate only for judicial review.
This new lawsuit addresses conduct that cannot be resolved in arbitration or administrative proceedings, including:
• Concealment of the true employer’s identity;
• Use of dissolved or unregistered entities to issue wage and tax documents;
• Coordinated corporate restructuring following whistleblower activity; and
• Contradictory representations made across arbitration, federal court, and the Department of Labor.
What This Case Seeks to Address
The complaint asserts claims for fraud, fraudulent concealment, civil conspiracy, alter-ego liability, and successor liability, and seeks to hold the upstream controllers of the enterprise accountable for conduct carried out through shell entities and trust-controlled companies.
This filing is intended to ensure that the full structure—rather than a single revoked shell, is evaluated by a federal court with jurisdiction to examine the complete factual record.
The filed complaint and exhibits are available for review and detail the corporate records, timelines, payroll evidence, and state-by-state filings underlying these allegations.