When Aussies Stephen Heasley and Andrew Borg opened their wedding programs on the eve of their 2017 ceremony in Pennsylvania, they were horrified by what they found.
Heasley, 39, and Borg, 31, have launched a suit against American printing company Vistaprint. In the suit, they indicate that they had ordered 100 blue and gold programs for $79.49, but they allege that what they were sent was clearly not what they had ordered.
“Rather than send plaintiffs the custom wedding programs they had purchased, Vistaprint instead sent plaintiffs literature with hateful, discriminatory and anti-gay messages equating their relationship to Satan’s temptation,” according to a new lawsuit against the printing company.
The two “were both emotionally devastated by Vistaprint’s intimidating and discriminatory conduct,’’ and had to print their own programs at an additional cost, the suit says.
A spokesperson for the company said they would launch a full investigation.
“Vistaprint would never discriminate against customers for their sexual orientation. We pride ourselves on being a company that celebrates diversity and enables customers all over the world to customize products for their special events,” a company spokesperson said.
“We have just been made aware of this incident in the last few hours. We understand how upsetting it would be for anyone to receive materials such as these the night before their wedding and we have immediately launched an internal investigation,” the spokesperson added.
The couple is suing for unspecified damages, and as part of a statement have said that “Our goal is to hold Vistaprint accountable for the harm they have caused … and to send a message that there will be consequences for acts of hate perpetrated against others.”
The suit comes a month after the US Supreme Court heard a case about a Colorado baker who refused to make a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
OIP Staff
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