Texas Sues Influencer For 'Giving Bad Health Advice' To Women Suffering From Eating Disorders

The state of Texas has filed a lawsuit against a former fitness influencer accusing her of misleading her clients by offering "bad health advice" to women suffering from eating disorders.

Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a $1 million lawsuit against Brittany Dawn Davis, a social media influencer based in Dallas, last week, accusing her of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, The Hill reported.

Davis, who has more than 465K followers on her Instagram page, started selling online health and wellness packages in 2014, through her company Brittany Dawn Fitness LLC using her social media popularity, New York Post reported.

The 30-year-old influencer charged some of her clients up to $300 promising them personalized fitness and nutrition plans with individual feedback and check-ins. However, she is accused of providing similar nutrition plans to all her clients, including those suffering from eating disorders.

The lawsuit alleged that Davis also misled her clients into believing that "she had special training to address eating disorder." Davis, meanwhile, has denied this allegation in the lawsuit.

Through YouTube videos, Davis convinced her clients that she suffered from eating disorders and overcame her condition through exercise and healthy eating. Davis also provided links to her fitness and nutrition plans in the videos, through which the consumers inferred that she had special training, the lawsuit alleged.

According to the lawsuit, at least 14 consumers with eating disorders have contacted Davis and she prescribed them diet plans that were suitable for weight loss. She "proceeded to provide cardio exercises and low-calorie macronutrient suggestions that would only be suitable for someone who needed to lose weight, not put it on."

Instead of providing individual feedback and check-ins as promised by her, Davis allegedly sent generic messages such as "THAT’S MY GIRL! You’re killing it!" or "You’ve got this babe!" to her clients. She also reportedly charged "shipping fees" for digital products and failed to provide refunds to her unhappy clients.

The alleged scam first came to light in 2019, after several of Davis's dissatisfied customers came together to form a Facebook group named "Brittany Dawn Fitness Complaints." Following the allegations, Davis made a tearful apology in a Youtube video accepting that she has made mistakes and eventually left the fitness industry.