Gay couple who ordered wedding programs got religious pamphlets about Satan instead: lawsuit

[FriskyCanuck]

https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/wo...bout-sin-lust-temptation-instead-lawsuit.html

The day before their wedding in September, Stephen Heasley and Andrew Borg received a package containing what they thought would be the programs for their ceremony.

"Celebration," their design said in bold letters at the top. "Welcome to Andrew & Stephen's wedding."

But when they opened the package, they say, they found 80 copies of a religious pamphlet instead of the 100 copies of the wedding program they had ordered. The pamphlet spoke ominously of sin, lust and temptation, according to a lawsuit they filed in United States District Court in Massachusetts.

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Heasley and Borg, both residents of Australia reportedly in their 30s, are suing the company they had hired to print their wedding programs, Vistaprint, alleging that the pamphlets "were clearly sent to intimidate, threaten and harass Plaintiffs because they are gay men." The lawsuit charges that the two were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. Vistaprint, a Dutch company, runs its operations in North America out of Lexington, Massachusetts. Heasley and Borg were married in Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit says the couple seeks a judgment declaring the company's conduct was unlawful as well as an unspecified award for the "economic damages, mental anguish and emotional distress" they have suffered as a result.

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"To know that any customer could feel treated in such a way, especially during a time that should be filled with joy, is extremely disheartening," the company said. "We have never been more disappointed to let a customer down. Vistaprint in no way condones — and does not tolerate — discrimination against any of our customers based on their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation."

The company said it had learned that "the materials that were intended to be printed for one customer were incorrectly sent to this couple by a 3rd party fulfiller."

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Vistaprint is a pretty big company, I see their ads on Canadian TV all the time. Honest mistake? Seems like too much of a coincidence.

 

[Sinneslöschen]

Yeah, either rogue employee or mistake. No way a company like Vistaprint would do this on purpose and expect to get away with it.

 

[ShyMel]

Without irrefutable proof, I cannot believe this was done on accident.

 

[hibikase]

Wow I'll never order from Vistaprint again.

 

[Pickman]

"the materials that were intended to be printed for one customer were incorrectly sent to this couple by a 3rd party fulfiller."

This seems to make it pretty clear, to me. They did the equivalent of 'last mile delivery' services where a courier takes over for USPS or FedEx to get your order to you by the end. Vistaprint sold the business opportunity to a smaller partner of theirs at a third party shop, and that printer is the fuckface who did this crap. Vistaprint has created some truly ridiculous, ludicrous, and sacrilegious things for me over the years, so the thought that this was a conscious effort of anyone at the main corporate entity seems highly unlikely.

 

[CDX]

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[cameron]

Vistaprint Statement.

"We support diversity and reject discrimination in all forms. Our CEO and founder's letter in response to a recent incident"

To our customers and partners worldwide –

On January 16th, we learned that a same sex couple who were married in Pennsylvania in September of last year ordered 100 custom wedding programs from Vistaprint and instead, received pamphlets that they felt were hurtful.

To know that any customer could feel treated in such a way, especially during a time that should be filled with joy, is extremely disheartening. Imagine a customer who took the time to create something personal to mark this special day and instead, the day before their wedding, goes to open their wedding programs and finds materials that they feel had targeted them in a hurtful way. We have never been more disappointed to let a customer down.

Vistaprint in no way condones – and does not tolerate – discrimination against any of our customers based on their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. We have encouraged members of the LGBTQ community to use our services to help celebrate their life events for many years, and have published thousands of wedding invitations, programs and other content for same sex couples.

As an organization, we support diversity and reject discrimination in all forms. We have taken the following steps in response to this incident:

• We have begun a complete investigation to determine how and why the couple received these materials. What we have learned to date is that materials that were intended to be printed for one customer were incorrectly sent to this couple by a 3rd party fulfiller. We, and our partner, are committed to understanding how and why this happened. If we determine that any individual played a deliberate role in this mix up, we will take strong action.
• We have communicated with all Vistaprint team members and reaffirmed our commitment to equality and diversity for all of our customers and employees.
• We have begun to plan how we can use our global brand platform to share a message of support for same sex marriage and equality around the world.

We have reached out to the couple to express our sadness that this incident occurred, and disappointment that this in any way diminished the joy of their wedding day memories. We are hoping to establish a dialogue with them so together we can use this incident as an opportunity to shine a light on important LGBTQ issues.

Sincerely,

Trynka Shineman, CEO, Vistaprint
Robert Keane, CEO, Cimpress and Vistaprint's founder​