Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2026
Chicago Teachers Union sues Illinois Policy Institute and Liberty Justice Center for defamation
Lawsuit filed
The Chicago Teachers Union filed a defamation lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against the Illinois Policy Institute, the Liberty Justice Center and IPI marketing vice president Austin Berg. The suit alleges that social media posts and articles branding the union "toxic" and accusing it of fraud, dishonest accounting and misuse of funds were part of a deliberate campaign to harm its reputation. The union seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial.
Source excerpt
“Falsely accusing a labor union of fraud, dishonest accounting, and misuse of funds strikes at the heart of the Union’s integrity, fitness, and ability to represent and advocate for its approximately 30,000 member-educators,” the suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, states.
The Chicago Teachers Union is taking aim at the Illinois Policy Institute and the Liberty Justice Center, claiming in a defamation lawsuit filed Monday that social media posts and articles bashing the union’s finances and its president Stacy Davis Gates — and branding the union “toxic” — are part of a “deliberate campaign” to harm the union’s reputation.
The CTU is framing the suit as Davis Gates “standing up to the multimillion dollar marketing firm, Illinois Policy Institute,” the Liberty Justice Center and Austin Berg, the nonprofit’s marketing vice president.