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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mcdonald’s Backs Off In Mclibel Burger Giant Ends Battle With Vegetarian Activists

Associated Press

After winning a dubious victory in the longest-ever English court trial, McDonald’s Corp. said Friday it won’t try to stop two vegetarian activists from handing out libelous pamphlets about the company.

McDonald’s also will not try to recover any of its legal costs, estimated at $16 million, or to collect the $98,000 in symbolic damages that it won.

The burger giant apparently decided it had had enough in its marathon court brawl against unemployed former postman Dave Morris and part-time barmaid Helen Steel.

McDonald’s defeated them last month when a judge ruled in the 314-day “McLibel” case that Morris and Steel had falsely defamed the company by handing out pamphlets entitled “What’s wrong with McDonald’s? Everything they don’t want you to know.”

But McDonald’s was humiliated when Justice Roger Bell found that several key allegations in the anti-capitalist handout were true.

The judge found that McDonald’s was responsible for animal cruelty, that it exploits children through its ad campaigns and that it pays workers in Britain poorly.

McDonald’s had until Thursday to file court papers seeking damages, costs or a court order to halt publication of the leaflets, but the company let the deadline pass with no action.

If McDonald’s had obtained an injunction to stop Morris and Steel from handing out the defamatory pamphlets, the defendants had said they would have kept handing them out anyway.

If McDonald’s had sought to enforce any court order barring further distribution, Morris and Steel could have been jailed for their cause, stirring more unwelcome publicity for McDonald’s.

“We’ve stated all along that we wanted to establish that the allegations made against McDonald’s weren’t true, and we think that’s been established by the judgment,” McDonald’s spokesman Robert Parker said.

Steel and Morris plan an appeal later this summer.