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Gay Couple Drops Suit Against Vistaprint

A recently married gay couple who received discriminatory flyers instead of their wedding programs is dropping their lawsuit against Massachusetts-based Vistaprint, a global e-commerce seller of promotional products and printed marketing materials owned by Top 40 distributor Cimpress (asi/162149).

According to the federal lawsuit, Stephen Heasley and Andrew Borg of Australia opened a package from Vistaprint the night before their wedding in Butler County, PA. Instead of the blue and yellow programs they’d ordered, the couple found about 80 flyers titled “Understanding Temptation: Fight the good fight of the faith.” 

There were a number of statements printed on the flyers that the couple alleges were purposefully meant to threaten them as a direct result of their sexual orientation, the lawsuit stated. Furthermore, the couple insists that agents or employees of Vistaprint intended to discriminate against them by choosing not to provide them with the same services as a straight couple, ABC News reported.

After an internal investigation, Vistaprint CEO Trynka Shineman determined that the flyers and wedding programs were printed simultaneously and that the wrong shipping label was inadvertently put on the boxes by a third-party partner, The Associated Press reported. Shineman said the flyers were designed for a religious program, adding that the mix-up was not a “malicious act.” 

“Humans are involved in our process and with that, we’re not perfect,” Shineman said. “We make mistakes and that's what happened in this case.”

Vistaprint has resolved the matter with the couple and the lawsuit will be dismissed, Shineman said. The couple’s attorney said their resolution included an apology from Vistaprint and an agreement that the company would make donations to LGBTQ organizations in the U.S. and Australia, where the men live.

“We have always wanted to use this as an opportunity to create greater understanding and acceptance of the LGBTQ community,” Heasley and Borg said in a statement. “We’ve accepted Vistaprint’s apology, and will work with them to select U.S. and Australian-based organizations that they will be making donations to in order to further achieve this mission.”

In a letter sent to customers on January 17, Shineman and Cimpress CEO Robert Keane wrote that they learned of the “extremely disheartening” incident on January 16. “We have never been more disappointed to let a customer down,” they wrote. “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.”