"Who said ordinary people can't change the world?"
The story of the longest trial in British history began in September 1990 when McDonald's sued five members of London Greenpeace, claiming that every statement in one of their leaflets was false.
They had not written the leaflet; they had merely handed the leaflets out. But under British libel law they could be sued.
"Fearing the potential monetary costs," writes Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, "three of the activists reluctantly appeared in court and apologized to McDonald's. The other two decided to fight."
Helen Steel was a twenty-five-year-old gardener, minibus driver, and bartender who'd been drawn to London Greenpeace by her devotion to vegetarianism and animal rights. Dave Morris was a thirty-six-year-old single father, a former postal worker interested in labor issues and the power of multinational corporations. The two friends seemed to stand little chance in court against the world's largest fast food chain. Steel had left school at seventeen, Morris at eighteen; and neither could afford a lawyer. ... Morris and Steel were denied legal aid and forced to defend themselves in front of a judge, instead of a jury. But with some aid from the secretary of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, the pair turned the "McLibel case" into ... a public relations disaster for McDonald's.
...
McDonald's had made a huge tactical error by asserting that everything in the leaflet was libelous... The blunder allowed Steel and Morris to turn the tables, putting McDonald's on trial and forcing a public examination of the chain's labor, marketing, environmental, nutrition, food safety, and animal welfare policies. Some of the chain's top executives were forced to appear on the stand and endure days of cross-examination by the pair of self-taught lawyers.
Furthermore, it came to light during the trial that McDonald's had spied on London Greenpeace and Steel and Morris, and their spies "inadvertantly spied on each other, unaware that the company was using at least two different detective agencies." McDonald's also obtained information from Scotland Yard and officers from Special Branch.
After nearly three years of trial, the judge ruled that Steel and Morris were unable to prove most of their allegations, and were fined 60,000 pounds.
However, notes Schlosser, "according to Justice Bell's decision, McDonald's did "exploit" children through its advertising, endanger the health of its regular customers, pay workers unreasonably low wages, and bear respoonsibility for the cruelty inflicted upon animals by many of its suppliers."
Steel and Morris appealed; they were partially successful and had their fine reduced to 40,000 pounds.
McDonald's said they would not collect the money and would not stop London Greenpeace from leafletting. The company "wanted this case to go away." But Steel and Morris were not done. They appealed to the British House of Lords.
Oh, and they sued Scotland Yard for spying on them. Scotland Yard settled out of court, apologizing and paying 10,000 pounds in damages.
After more than a decade, the McLibel Case was still active when Schlosser published Fast Food Nation in 2001. He concludes:
When the House of Lords refused to hear their case, Morris and Steel filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights, challenging the validity not only of the verdict, but also of the British libel laws.... After intimidating British critics for years, the McDonald's Corporation picked on the wrong two people.
Here's the update from the McLibel website. On Feb. 15th, 2005, after years of wrangling,
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg declared that the mammoth McLibel case was in breach of the right to a fair trial and right to freedom of expression.
The European Court ruled that UK laws had failed to protect the public’s right to criticise massive corporations whose business practices can affect people’s lives, health and the environment.
Who said ordinary people can't change the world?