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$17 million verdict against labor union
July 24, 2006 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
A jury decided that a labor union owes $17,292,850 for mailing 11,000 defamatory postcards to customers of a hospital chain.
That's about $1,500 per postcard.
The union, UNITE Here, had a labor dispute with the Angelica Corp laundry service. Angelica had a contract with the Sutter Health hospital chain to clean sheets and towels. The union wanted Sutter to put economic pressure on Angelica. So the union sent 11,000 postcards to Sutter's customers and potential customers saying they "may be bringing home more than your baby if you deliver at a Sutter birthing center."
Just one problem. The jury in Placer County California thought this was defamatory, and issued a verdict for the hospital chain on July 21.
I learned about this from Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer, where Michael Fox likes to keep track of MDVs (million dollar verdicts) - Unusual MDV - Union Held Liable for Defamation
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