A jury in Placer County has ordered UNITE
HERE—one of the nation’s largest labor unions—to pay $17.3 million for
sending out postcards that defamed a group of Northern California
hospitals.
The case arose out of a labor dispute UNITE HERE had with Angelica
Textile Services, a commercial laundry service that had a laundry
contract with the Sutter Health hospital chain. In order to put
economic pressure on Angelica, the union sent out 11,000 postcards to
women in the Northern California area, stating that they “may be
bringing home more than your baby if you deliver at a Sutter birthing
center” and suggesting that the hospital’s used linens weren’t properly
cleaned.
Sutter Health and several of its affiliated hospitals sued, claiming
the postcards were defamatory. The jury agreed, finding that in sending
out the mailing, UNITE HERE acted with “fraud, malice or oppression.”
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