Sullivan v. Schiman

Plaintiff filed a defamation lawsuit after the defendant falsely accused him of sexually abusing her during a medical examination. Co-defendant was an individual who re-posted the allegations. The trial court ruled in favor of the plaintiff and found that plaintiff was actually harmed but awarded $1 in nominal damages. The circuit court also denied plaintiff’s motion for sanctions based on allegedly false statements by a co-defendant in response to requests to admit facts. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s finding of defamation per se but that the trial court erred in awarding only nominal damages where the plaintiff prevailed. The appellate court also found that the trial court erred when it denied sanctions under Rules 219 and 137 without addressing the required criteria of those rules. (DAVENPORT and BERTANI, concurring)