Save A Life Says Stop - Foundation Sues Over ‘Harassment’ - Daily Herald, 5/9/07
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‘Harassment’
by Chad Brooks, The Daily Herald, May 9, 2007
Believing it is caught in the middle of a Heimlich family feud, the
suburban-based Save A Life Foundation has filed a lawsuit to repair
what officials say is a damaged image.
The foundation, which teaches kids life-supporting first aid
techniques, including the Heimlich maneuver for choking victims, has
sued Peter Heimlich, the son of maneuver namesake Dr. Henry Heimlich,
for making defamatory allegations against the foundation.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Cook County, a family feud has
developed between father and son over the years, which has led Peter
Heimlich to embark on an organized and concerted campaign to discredit
anything his father has been involved in, including the not-for-profit
foundation.
The campaign targeted the Save A Life, the lawsuit says, because of
its close ties to Henry Heimlich, who once sat on the foundation’s
medical advisory board.
The foundation is based in suburban Schiller Park and does work
throughout the Chicago suburbs and around the country.
Foundation attorney Thomas DiCianni said Peter Heimlich, along with
two other men named in the lawsuit - Cincinnati blogger Jason Haap and
Robert Baratz, a Massachusetts critic of Henry Heimlich - have been
harassing those associated with the foundation.
None of the three defendants could be reached for comment Tuesday.
But DiCianni said and the suit claim the three have been contacting
those who do work or are considering working with Save A Life, such as
businesses, legislators and federal agencies, to try and draw
attention to an ABC 7 news report that aired in Chicago in November
2006.
The report, DiCianni said, falsely claimed the foundation’s teachings
on the Heimlich maneuver were inappropriate, and that, among other
alleged falsehoods, that the foundation was misappropriating funds.
DiCianni said the smear campaign has caused the foundation a lot of
undue work and lost business.
“This has disrupted their daily operations,” he said. “They are
spending a lot of time repairing their image.”
The defendants, the suit claims, have also harassed members of the
foundation’s board of directors, including Palatine Mayor Rita
Mullins, board executive secretary.
Mullins said she was barraged with letters, phone calls and e-mails
from those trying to discredit the foundation.
“It went on for about three months before I finally got them to stop,”
she said.
Mullins said the foundation’s detractors are spreading lies about the
foundation.
“It is very disheartening because I know it to be a very well-run
organization,” she said.
The suit, DiCianni said, is seeking an immediate halt to the
harassment as well as at least $400,000 in damages.
The foundation’s goal is to provide vital first aid skills to
children. Those skills can then be used to help in an emergency prior
to the arrival of emergency personnel.
The foundation was established in 1993 by Carol Spizzirri shortly
after her 18-year-old daughter died as a result of first-responders
not being able to render basic life-supporting first aid because of
lack of training, according to the foundation Web site. The program is
said to have trained more than 1.6 million children throughout the
nation.
Copyright@2007, The Daily Herald