Ill. teacher sues author over 'Three Cups of Tea'

CHICAGO – Efforts to start a class-action lawsuit against "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson in Montana now include Illinois.

Former teacher Deborah Netter of Lake County filed suit this month in Illinois federal court against Mortenson, his coauthor and publisher seeking damages and class action status.

The lawsuits in Illinois and Montana cite media reports from "60 Minutes" and author Jon Krakauer alleging Mortenson lied in the book about how he became involved in building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The book claims he became lost in 1993 while mountain climbing in rural Pakistan and stumbling upon the village of Korphe, where the residents helped him recuperate and he promised to build a school. Released in 2006, it sold more than 3 million copies.

According to the lawsuit, Netter wants compensation "for herself and all other individuals or entities, who purchased `Three Cups of Tea' and did not get what they paid for, but instead, were wrongly induced by each of the defendants to buy a phony and fictional story as opposed to the truth."

Mortenson has previously denied any wrongdoing, though he has admitted some of the events in his book were compressed in time. Publisher Penguin Books said it had no comment on the lawsuit.

Netter claims they violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, were unjustly enriched and committed breach of contract. She wants an accounting of all the book has earned, for proceeds to be placed in a trust for the plaintiffs and a halt to marketing and promotion efforts describing "Three Cups of Tea" as nonfiction.

Along with class-action status, the lawsuit filed in Illinois on June 8 also seeks damages and attorney's fees.

Mortenson, of Bozeman, Mont., had surgery earlier this month after doctors discovered an aneurysm and a hole in his heart. Mortenson is executive director of the Central Asia Institute, which said in a Saturday news release that he was under doctor's orders to rest after the open-heart procedure.

The institute did not respond to an email sent Monday seeking comment on the Illinois lawsuit.

Last month, two Montana lawmakers filed a claim in Missoula federal court saying they were duped into buying Mortenson's best-selling book and donating to his charity based on lies they thought were true.

Earlier this month, one of the lawmakers dropped out as a plaintiff. Mortenson's charity, Central Asia Institute, also was removed as a defendant.

Those changes came because the plaintiffs anticipate involvement by Montana's attorney general investigating the charity, according to court filings.

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Jalees Rehman, M.D.: Sharing Three Cups of Tea With the Tea Party

Jalees Rehman, M.D.: Sharing Three Cups of Tea With the Tea Party HPFB.init(); bN_cfg = { h: (window.HPConfig && HPConfig.current_web_address) || location.hostname, p: {"dL_ch":"us.hpmgcom","dL_dpt":"default","dL_cmsID":"hpo:868008"} }; (function(d, n){ var s=d.createElement(n), h=d.getElementsByTagName(n)[0]; s.src="http://o.aolcdn.com/os/aol/beacon.min.js"; h.parentNode.insertBefore(s, h); })(document, "script"); 

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Why Montana Residents Are Suing "Three Cups Of Tea" Author

HELENA, Mont. -- Two Montana residents have filed a lawsuit against "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson and his Central Asia Institute for alleged fabrications in his book.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Missoula is the latest fallout after published reports Mortenson lied about events in his best-selling book and may have benefited from his charity.

Mortenson is at his Bozeman home awaiting heart surgery. His spokesman did not return a call for comment Friday.

The lawsuit by Michele Reinhart, of Missoula, and Jean Price, of Great Falls, claims Mortenson and CAI committed fraud by inducing them to donate and buy his book.

They are asking a federal judge to certify their complaint as a class-action lawsuit that could potentially be joined by millions of people.

 

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Mont. legislators sue "Three Cups of Tea" author

 

HELENA, Mont. - Two Montana lawmakers are trying to start a class-action lawsuit against "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson, claiming they were duped into buying Mortenson's best-selling book and donating to his charity based on lies they thought were true.

The claim filed Thursday in federal court in Missoula is the latest fallout from reports by "60 Minutes" and author Jon Krakauer last month that alleged that Mortenson lied in "Three Cups of Tea" about how he became involved in building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The reports also questioned whether Mortenson financially benefited from his charity, Central Asia Institute, and whether CAI built the number of schools it claimed.

Questions over Greg Mortenson's stories
Video: Full "60 Minutes" segment

The complaint, which tells only one side of a legal argument, alleges Mortenson and CAI induced state Rep. Michele Reinhart of Missoula to buy the book and Rep. Jean Price of Great Falls to donate to the charity. Reinhart and Price claim Mortenson and the charity engaged in fraud, deceit, breach of contract and racketeering under a statute normally used for prosecuting mobsters.

The Democratic legislators are seeking class-action status, saying the lawsuit potentially could be joined by millions of people who bought Mortenson's books, heard his speeches or donated to his charity.

"They purchased the book because of his heart-wrenching story which he said was true," said Great Falls attorney Alexander Blewett, who is representing Reinhart and Price. "If people had known all of this was fabricated, they would not have given the money."

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Mortenson was in his Bozeman home awaiting word on whether he could safely undergo surgery to repair a hole in his heart, according to a statement by his doctor posted on the Central Asia Institute's website. A spokeswoman for the charity did not return a call for comment on Friday.

Mortenson has previously denied any wrongdoing, though he has admitted some of the events in his book were compressed over different periods of time. CAI has pledged full transparency and posted years of financial statements on its website.

Reinhart heard Mortenson speak at the University of Montana in 2007 and bought "Three Cups of Tea" in 2009. Price heard a presentation by Mortenson or CAI in Great Falls in 2009 and made a donation "relying on the truthfulness of his statements," according to the complaint.

Neither immediately returned calls for comment. Their attorney, Blewett, is the father of another Democratic state lawmaker, Sen. Anders Blewett.

The plaintiffs are asking a judge to rule that Mortenson and CAI violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as RICO. They made the RICO claim because Price gave CAI a second donation after receiving a solicitation in the mail, which Alexander Blewett said constitutes mail fraud.

The racketeering claim allows the plaintiffs to seek triple the amount Mortenson and CAI have made from book sales, speeches and donations.

The complaint asks the judge to place the money into a trust administered by a court-appointed charity that would direct it to schoolchildren in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Three Cups of Tea" was released in 2006 and sold more than 3 million copies. That notoriety helped Mortenson grow the Central Asia Institute by generating more than $50 million in donations.

The fallout from the "60 Minutes" and Krakauer reports prompted Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock to open an inquiry into the charity last month.

Blewett said a class-action lawsuit represents the best way for the public to find out the truth because it could result in Mortenson's sworn testimony.

"We welcome the opportunity to let Mr. Mortenson testify under oath to all these things. To us, it seems overwhelmingly false and we will give him ample opportunity to explain away all of the falsehoods," Blewett said.

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Lawsuit accuses "Three Cups of Tea" author of fraud

HELENA, Montana (Reuters) – Greg Mortenson, author of the bestseller "Three Cups of Tea," was sued for fraud on Friday in a class-action case accusing him of fabricating much of his story to promote the book and his Montana-based charity.

The lawsuit comes nearly four weeks after Mortenson and his Central Asia Institute (CAI) came under fire in an expose aired on the CBS television news program "60 Minutes," which sparked an investigation by the Montana attorney general.

The "60 Minutes" report challenged the credibility of biographical details in Mortenson's memoir and said his institute, founded to build schools for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was largely being used to promote the book.

In particular, the "60 Minutes" report disputed his account of being kidnapped in Pakistan's Waziristan region in 1996.

The book chronicles Mortenson's unsuccessful attempt to climb the mountain K2 in South Asia and his encounter with impoverished Pakistani villagers whom he said inspired him to build schools and other projects in the region.

The lawsuit does not mention the CBS broadcast or give examples of purported fabrications. Nor does it say on what basis two named plaintiffs -- Jean Price of Great Falls, Montana, and Michele Reinhart of Missoula -- concluded that Mortenson was untruthful.

It said Price and Reinhart both bought copies of "Three Cups" and donated to CAI, relying on the veracity of statements Mortenson made in public speaking engagements they attended.

Mortenson's publisher, Viking Press, has said that it, too, is reviewing claims that parts of "Three Cups of Tea" were concocted. Viking representatives could not be reached for comment on Friday.

But in a lengthy question-and-answer interview with Outside Magazine posted on CAI's website, Mortenson defends his book and the institute's work.

He acknowledged that the book, co-authored by David Oliver, contains "discrepancies" that result from "omissions and compressions" done for the sake of literary expediency. "But I'm not a journalist. I don't take a lot of notes," he said.

He insisted the abduction story was "pretty much" true, recounting, "I was definitely detained against my will," though he said his captors never called themselves Taliban.

As for the institute's finances, Mortenson conceded, "I am not a good manager," and he said he hired a law firm to conduct a thorough audit when problems first surfaced and is implementing changes recommended by the firm.

He acknowledged that less than half of CAI's proceeds have gone into building schools but said "much of the remainder was spent on CAI's other charitable programs."

He also said that a trusted intermediary the institute hired years ago to help get schools built overseas was later found to have been corrupt.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana, claimed CAI "expended significant sums to finance Mortenson's book tours and public speaking engagements."

"During these activities, Mortenson and CAI have repeatedly fabricated material details about his activities and work in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including specific fabrications" in his book," the suit claimed, adding: "The purpose of these fabrications was to induce unsuspecting individuals to purchase his books and to donate to CAI."

The suit seeks a court order establishing a trust and assigning another existing charity to control the funds raised by CAI and Mortenson in order to construct schools they "claim to have built but did not build."

"Three Cups of Tea" is a New York times bestseller that has sold over 4 million copies, according to a biography on the website of his charity.

(Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Peter Bohan)

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2 Montana lawmakers seek class-action lawsuit against ‘Three Cups of Tea’ author Mortenson

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