Plaintiffs, who are municipal officeholders and current or former City employees, sued Township and Township Assessor for defamation and false light. Court properly denied Defendants' motion for summary summary judgment under Citizen Participation Act. A defendant does not have protection under the Act if the suit has potential merit, even if Plaintiff's motivation for filing it was, in part, retaliatory. As Defendants failed to show that defamation claims were meritless, burden never shifted to Plaintiffs to show by clear and convincing evidence that the letter Assessor published was not genuinely aimed at procuring favorable action. Assessor's testimony that he did not act with actual malice when he sent the letter is insufficient to show lack of a question of material fact. (HARRIS and GRIFFIN, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Defamation