Stericycle’s Lawsuit Against Pro-Life Group Dismissed

LAKE FOREST, IL - A Lake Forest-based waste hauling company saw its lawsuit against a Pro-Life group from Ohio dropped last week.

A Judicial Circuit Court judge dismissed most of the counts brought forth by Stericycle against Created Equal, while allowing the company to re-submit claims of emotional distress.

Stericycle brought forth the suit after Created Equal began to pass anti-abortion flyers around the city that claimed the company was “enabling” abortion providers like Planned Parenthood by disposing “of the babies they kill” earlier this year. The company claimed defamation, false light invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Related on Patch: Graphic Anti-Abortion Fliers Upset Some Lake Forest Residents

The judge threw out all counts with prejudice except for the one related to emotional distress, which was dismissed without prejudice. Stericycle will still be able to provide additional details that lead to an emotional distress claim.

“This latest dismissal of Stericycle’s lawsuit constitutes another signal victory for free speech on the part of ordinary citizens,” stated Tom Brejcha, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society, which provided pro bono legal representation for Created Equal. “The court recognized that no business is immune from public criticism of practices that citizens deem profoundly objectionable on moral or legal grounds.”

Mark Harrington, one of several defendants listed in the lawsuit, said called Stericycle a “corporate bully.”

“Corporate bullies like Stericycle are not immune from exposure for their involvement in abortion-killing,” he said. “If Stericycle is really concerned about the impact of our publicity campaign on its public image, then it will cease enabling Planned Parenthood to transport and dispose of aborted babies’ remains together with the instruments used to kill them.”