Helen Steel and David Morris, the defendants in the McLibel case, at the launch of McSpotlight.org The McLibel case is the colloquial term for McDonald's Restaurants v Morris & Steel, a long-running[1] English court action for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris (often referred to as "The McLibel Two") over a pamphlet critical of the company. The original case lasted seven years, making it the longest-running court action in English history. Helen Steel and David Morris, Photo credit:Spanner Films[1] This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
Helen Steel and David Morris, Photo credit:Spanner Films[1] This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
A colloquialism is an informal expression, that is, an expression not used in formal speech or writing. ...
Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification - by Athelstan 967 Area...
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In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ...
McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks. ...
For the psychology topic, see Environmental psychology. ...
Although McDonald's has technically won two separate hearings of the case in the English courts, the partial nature of the victory and drawn-out litigation has turned the case into a matter of serious embarrassment for the company. Because of this, McDonald's has repeatedly announced that it has no plans to collect the £40,000 it was awarded by the courts. Since then, certain aspects of the trial have been declared by the European Court of Human Rights to be Human Rights]]. In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decisionmaking body or officer. ...
A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ...
Embarrassment is an unpleasant emotional state experienced upon having a socially or professionally unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others. ...
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A trial at the Old Bailey in London as drawn by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin for Ackermanns Microcosm of London (1808-11). ...
European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), often referred to informally as the Strasbourg Court, was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints against States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by...
History
Publication Beginning in 1986, "London Greenpeace", a small environmental campaigning group (not to be confused with the larger Greenpeace International organization, which they declined to join as they saw it being too "centralized and mainstream for their tastes"[2]), distributed a pamphlet entitled What’s wrong with McDonald’s: Everything they don’t want you to know. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Greenpeace protest against Esso / Exxon Mobil. ...
Polish soldiers reading a German leaflet during the Warsaw Uprising A pamphlet is an unbound booklet (that is, without a hard cover or binding). ...
This publication made a number of allegations against McDonald's, including that the corporation
- sells unhealthy food;
- exploits its work force;
- practices unethical marketing of its products, especially towards children;
- is cruel to animals;
- needlessly uses up resources;
- contributes to poverty in the Third World by forcing peasants either to leave their land in favour of export crops which could satisfy McDonald's needs, or to convert their land to raise cattle;
- creates pollution with its packaging; and
- is at least partly responsible for destroying the South American rainforests.[3]
Ironically, before McDonald's responded, the pamphlet was regarded as something of a failure.[4] Now, though, the pamphlet has been translated into over twenty-six languages. For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ...
South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...
The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ...
Original case In 1990, McDonald's responded by bringing libel proceedings against five London Greenpeace supporters, Paul Gravett, Andrew Clarke and Jonathan O'Farrell, as well as Steel and Morris, for distributing the pamphlet on the streets of London. The case was assigned to Judge Rodger Bell. “Libel†redirects here. ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
Although none of these individuals was alleged to be the author of the pamphlet, they faced large financial penalties and a difficult court battle unless they retracted and apologised for its content and ceased its distribution. Under English law, the burden of proving the literal truth of any potentially disparaging statements is on the defendant. For a number of years, McDonald's was thus perceived to have been able to use the English libel laws to prevent public criticism being made against them. During the 1980s, the company threatened to sue more than fifty organizations, including Channel 4 television and several major publications. Because of such precedents, and because of the considerable financial and legal resources McDonald's could bring to bear, three of the charged individuals (Gravett, Clarke and O'Farrell) felt that they had no choice but to apologise as demanded; McDonald's typically uses this libel tactic in the United Kingdom, and settles for a formal apology in court or an informal one.[5] Steel and Morris, on the other hand, refused to back down and decided to fight the case. Cosette Dwyer is an amazing author. ...
English law is a formal term of art that describes the law for the time being in force in England and Wales. ...
It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ...
However, the two had no formal post-secondary school education, and few financial resources; Morris was an out-of-work postal employee from Tottenham and Steel a community gardener[1] for Haringey council. Furthermore, they were denied Legal Aid by the courts. Although the pair were deemed no legal match for McDonald's enormous legal assets, they represented themselves, receiving much free legal advice, and doing enormous amounts of research in their spare time; they would eventually call 180 witnesses to prove their assertions about food poisoning, unpaid overtime, misleading claims about how much McDonald's recycled, and even about how McDonald's hired "corporate spies sent to infiltrate the ranks of London Greenpeace".[6] Tottenham is a suburb of north London in the London Borough of Haringey, situated 6. ...
The London Borough of Haringey is a north London borough. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Pro bono is a phrase derived from Latin meaning for the good. The complete phrase is pro bono publico, for the public good. It is used to designate legal or other professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment, as a public service. ...
Foodborne illness or food poisoning is caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. ...
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours; these may be determined in several ways, by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), by practices of a given trade or profession, by legislation, or by agreement between employers and workers or their representatives. ...
The international recycling symbol. ...
A major mistake by McDonald's and their lawyers when preparing the case was asserting that all claims in the pamphlet were false. Although some of the claims were weak[7] — the assertion that the destruction of the Amazonian rain forests was in part due to McDonald's demand for cattle (for burgers), for instance — other claims were less controversial. The corporation found itself on trial before the British people and the world, particularly with regard to those claims involving the nutritional content of McDonald's' food and labour practices. The case became a media circus, especially when top McDonald's executives were forced to take the stand and be questioned by the two non-lawyers. Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (often called cows in vernacular and contemporary usage, or kye as the Scots plural of cou) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ...
In classical economics and all micro-economics labour is a measure of the work done by human beings and is one of three factors of production, the others being land and capital. ...
INS agents recover Elián González by force from his uncles house; this photo, taken by AP photographer Alan Diaz, won him a Pulitzer Prize. ...
In June 1995, McDonald's offered to settle the case (which "was coming up to its first anniversary in court"[8]) by donating a large sum of money to a charity chosen by the two; in addition, they would drop the case if Steel and Morris agreed to "stop criticizing McDonald's".[8]
On June 19, 1997, Mr Justice Bell delivered a more than 1000-page decision in favor of McDonald's,[1] summarized by a 45-page paper read in court.[9] Although a legal victory for McDonald's, the case had long since been deemed a Pyrrhic victory for the company, as Bell J's decision found that the defendants proved many of the points made in the London Greenpeace pamphlet. Thus, Bell noted that McDonald's did endanger the health of their workers and customers by "misleading advertising", that they "exploit children", that they are "culpably responsible" in the infliction of unnecessary cruelty to animals, and that they are "antipathetic" to unionisation and pay their workers low wages.[10] Furthermore, although the decision awarded £60,000 to the company, McDonald's legal costs were much greater, and the defendants lacked the funds to pay it. Steel and Morris immediately appealed the decision. Worse, evidence that surfaced during the trial regarding McDonald's business practices proved extremely embarrassing for the company. It has been estimated that the case has cost McDonald's £10,000,000 and it is often described as the biggest public relations disaster in history. A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with devastating cost to the victor. ...
Cruelty to animals refers to treatment or standards of care that causes unwarranted or unnecessary suffering or harm to animals. ...
A trade union or labor union is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. ...
Public relations (PR) is the business, organizational, philanthropic, or social function of managing communication between an organization and its audiences. ...
Appeals and further cases Later, the defendants learned McDonald's had not only hired spies to infiltrate London Greenpeace (McDonald's is yummy), but that the company had hired agents to break into their offices and steal documents[11].
In addition, it was learned the company abused its connections with law enforcement to obtain information on the defendants[citation needed]. The pair later sued Scotland Yard, and received £10,000 and an apology [2]. New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, it blowwsssss often referred to simply as Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ...
In March 1999, the appeals court further supported allegations in the London Greenpeace leaflet that McDonald's mistreated their workers, and that McDonald's food was a cause of heart disease.[12] As a result, the award was reduced to £40,000. By this time McDonald's had no intention of collecting the money, and had abandoned any plans to block distribution of the leaflet. Heart disease is an umbrella term for a number of different sexes diseases which affect the heart and is the leading cause of death in the United States as of 2006. ...
European Court of Human Rights Steel and Morris appealed to the Law Lords that their right to legal aid (to ensure a fair trial) had been denied. When that body refused to hear the case, the pair filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), contesting the UK government's policy that legal aid was not available in libel cases. In September 2004, the human rights action was heard by the ECHR. Lawyers for the McLibel Two argued that the original trial pitted a poor, powerless pair of individuals against the wealth and might of a great corporation and breached the pair's right to freedom of expression and to a fair trial. The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, has a judicial function as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. ...
On 15 February 2005, the pair's 20-year battle (and 11-year court battle) with the company concluded when the ECHR ruled that the original case had breached Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered that the UK government pay the McLibel Two £57,000 in compensation. In making their decision, the ECHR criticised the way in which UK laws had failed to protect the public right to criticise corporations whose business practices affect people's lives and the environment (which violates Article 10) and criticised the biased nature of the trial due to the defendants' lack of legal aid, the complex and oppressive nature of the UK libel laws, and the imbalance in resources between the parties to the case (which violates Article 6). In response to the ECHR's decision, Steel and Morris issued the following press release;
Having largely beaten McDonald's... we have now exposed the notoriously oppressive and unfair UK laws. As a result of the... ruling today, the government may be forced to amend or scrap some of the existing UK laws. We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny and criticism of powerful organisations whose practices have a detrimental effect on society and the environment. The McLibel campaign has already proved that determined and widespread grass roots protests and defiance can undermine those who try to silence their critics, and also render oppressive laws unworkable. The continually growing opposition to McDonald's and all it stands for is a vindication of all the efforts of those around the world who have been exposing and challenging the corporation's business practices. [13] McDonald's has not commented on the decision.
See also McDonalds has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases the course of the fast food chains 66-year history. ...
A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) is a form of litigation filed by a large corporation or in some cases an individual plaintiff, to intimidate and silence a less powerful critic by so severely burdening them with the cost of a legal defense that they abandon their criticism. ...
Maxime, McDuff & McDo is the title of a 2002 French language (w/English subtitles) documentary film that shows the attempt of unionizing a McDonalds restaurant in Montreal Canada. ...
References - ^ a b "For 313 days in court - the longest trial in English history - an unemployed postal worker (Morris) and a community gardener (Steel) went to war with chief executives from the largest food empire in the world." pg 389 of No Logo
- ^ pg 388 of No Logo
- ^ What's wrong with McDonald's?. McSpotlight. Retrieved on 2006-07-14.
- ^ "London Greenpeace's campaign was winding down, and only a few hundred copies of the contentious leaflet had ever been distributed." pg 391 of No Logo
- ^ "Over the past 15 years, McDonald's has threatened legal action against more than 90 organizations in the U.K., including the BBC, Channel 4, the Guardian, The Sun, the Scottish TUC, the New Leaf Shop, student newspapers, and a children's theatre group. Even Prince Philip received a stiff letter. All of them backed down and many formally apologised in court." from "Why Won't British TV Show a Film about McLibel?", Franny Armstrong, 19 June 1998, The Guardian; as quoted in No Logo.
- ^ pg 389 of No Logo
- ^ "In many ways, the case against McDonald's is less compelling than the ones against Nike and Shell, both of which are supported by hard evidence of large-scale human suffering. With McDonald's the evidence was less direct and, in some ways, the issues more dated." pg 388 of No Logo
- ^ a b pg 387 of No Logo, 1st ed.
- ^ "On June 19, 1997, the judge finally handed down the verdict....It felt like an eternity to most of us sitting there, as Judge Rodger Bell read out his forty-five-page ruling - a summary of the actual verdict, which was over a thousand pages long. Although the judge deemed most of the pamphlet's claims too hyperbolic to be acceptable )he was particularly unconvinced by its direct linking of McDonald's to "hunger in the 'Third World'"), he deemed others to be based on pure fact." pg 389-390 of No Logo.
- ^ Judgement Day Verdict - Highlights. McSpotlight (1997-06-19). Retrieved on 2006-07-14.
- ^ Story of the agents infiltrations
- ^ Specifically, the appeals court supported the claims "concerning nutrition and health risks and on the allegations about pay and conditions for McDonald's employees." As quoted on page 390 of No Logo.
- ^ Victory for McLibel 2 against UK Government. McSpotlight (2005-02-15). Retrieved on 2006-07-14.
- McLibel: burger culture on trial by John Vidal (Macmillan, 1997; New Press, 1998) ISBN 0-333-69461-9 (hardcover), ISBN 0-330-35237-7 (paperback), ISBN 1-56584-411-4 (US). Afterword by Steel and Morris
- McLibel: Two Worlds Collide, documentary produced by Spanner Films.
- McWorld on Trial, an extensive article on the case from the point of view of Dave Morris and Helen Steel appears in The Raven, issue 43 (published by Freedom Press)
- Fast Food Nation (by Eric Schlosser), an exposé on fast food and the culture it has created, which mentions McLibel in its last few chapters.
- No Logo, Naomi Klein, 490 pages, cover design Bruce Mau & Barr Gilmore, 1999. Published in USA by St. Martin's Press, Picador USA Reading Group imprint, and in Canada by Alfred A. Knopf Canada of Random House Canada Limited. ISBN 0-312-20343-8 (hardcover); ISBN 0-312-27192-1 (softcover)
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 170 days remaining. ...
The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion...
It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ...
This article is about a British tabloid. ...
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. ...
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten), styled HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (born June 10, 1921), is the consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ...
The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...
Nike, Inc. ...
The Shell emblem known as the Pecten Shell Oil Company (SOC) is the Houston, Texas based wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. ...
1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 195 days remaining. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 170 days remaining. ...
2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 170 days remaining. ...
Tiny London-based documentary company founded by Director Franny Armstrong in 1997. ...
Cover of the final issue of The Raven, issue 43, Food, (2002) The Raven was a quarterly anarchist review published by Freedom Press. ...
Freedom Press is the oldest surviving anarchist publishing house in the English speaking world and the largest in Britain. ...
Fast Food Nation, paperback edition Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) is a book by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry. ...
Eric Schlosser (born 1959) is an American journalist and author. ...
Front cover of No Logo. ...
Naomi Klein (born May 5, 1970 [1]) is a Canadian journalist, author and activist. ...
Headquartered in the legendary Flatiron Building in New York City, St. ...
Further reading - "McLibel in London", 20 March 1995, Fortune
- "Anti-McDonald's Activists Take Message Online", 27 March 1996, Associated Press
- "Activists Win Partial Victory in Appeal Over McDonald's Libel Case", 31 March 1999, Associated Press
- "Guess Who's Still in Trouble?" Newsletter #9, October 1997, Campaign for Labor Rights
- "Few Nuggets and Very Small Fries", pg 22; 20 June 1997, The Guardian
Fortune magazine is Americas second longest-running business magazine after Forbes magazine. ...
The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...
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