An appeals court has upheld the decision of a federal judge who dismissed a lawsuit accusing Amway Corp. of spreading rumors linking Procter & Gamble to devil worship.
The unanimous decision Monday by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver agreed with a 2001 ruling that the rumors were not defamatory and that P&G had not made a case for specific damages.
The lawsuit was one of several Cincinnati-based P&G filed after rumors began circulating in the early 1980s that the company's logo a bearded, crescent man-in-the-moon looking over a field of 13 stars was a symbol of Satanism.
P&G claimed distributors for Amway revived the rumors in 1995, using a voice mail system to tell thousands of customers that part of Procter & Gamble's profits go to Satanic cults. Ada, Mich.-based Amway sells household products, many of which compete with P&G's products, directly to customers.
P&G spokeswoman Linda Ulrey said Tuesday that the company was disappointed with the ruling. "We believe it is wrong for anybody to spread false rumors against our company," Ulrey said.
In a statement Tuesday, Amway general counsel Michael Mohr said the company wasn't surprised that Amway "has been completely vindicated in this ridiculous case. We never spread the rumor in fact, we spent years helping P&G fight it."