Dutch Entrepreneur Bas Wouters Sues Robert Cialdini and U.S.-Based Defendants in the Netherlands

Complaint seeks $36 Million, alleging Cialdini betrayed ethical influence principles he popularized

TEMPE, Ariz., July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Dutch entrepreneur Bas Wouters and his companies have filed a lawsuit in the Netherlands against internationally known influence expert Dr. Robert Cialdini and his Arizona-based company Influence at Work LLC. The lawsuit, which also names as plaintiffs his wife Bobette Gorden, Cialdini Institute LLC, Samir Patel, and Christopher Phelps, alleges a coordinated course of wrongful conduct that caused substantial financial harm and forced Wouters out of Cialdini Institute Holding Netherlands B.V. at a deeply depressed value. The lawsuit against Cialdini, a New York Times bestselling author and professor, seeks damages of more than $36 million.

The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Oost-Brabant in the Netherlands. Although the case is pending in the Netherlands, the defendants are based in the United States. Cialdini, Gorden, Cialdini Institute LLC, and Influence At Work LLC are listed at an address in Tempe, Arizona. Patel is listed as residing in Georgia, and Phelps is listed as residing in North Carolina.

According to the writ of summons, Wouters built the Cialdini Institute into an international business in the field of persuasion science from 2022 through 2025. The complaint alleges that Wouters and his companies developed the company's intellectual property, curriculum, client relationships, technology, marketing assets, operational systems, and international business platform. The filing states that the enterprise was valued at approximately $11.5 million, yet Wouters was ultimately pressured to sell his interest for $250,000.

The lawsuit alleges that Cialdini and the other defendants engaged in a pattern of deception, pressure, obstruction, and value transfer. Among other claims, the plaintiffs allege that Cialdini's serious cancer diagnosis was concealed from Wouters and investors, that business opportunities were blocked or diverted, that intellectual property rights were stripped or undermined, that a personal loan was inflated and used as leverage, and that Wouters was forced into a sale under financial and operational pressure.

The plaintiffs seek damages of more than $36 million, plus statutory interest, additional damages to be assessed, production of withheld communications, litigation costs, and other relief.

The lawsuit also focuses on what the plaintiffs describe as a stark contradiction between Cialdini's public reputation and his alleged private conduct. Cialdini built his career on the study of ethical influence and persuasion through his career-making book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. The complaint alleges that his conduct toward Wouters was in direct opposition to the principles of honesty, transparency, and ethical influence that made his work famous.

A copy of the lawsuit can be downloaded at https://cialdinicase.com/case-documents.

Contact: John P. David
888-859-6637
[email protected]

SOURCE Cialdini Institute Holding Netherlands B.V.