Plaintiff, the former director of the Property Tax Appeal Board, filed a lawsuit against the defendants who published a series of articles that reported on allegations that the plaintiff had improperly pressured PTAB employees to reduce the amount of property taxes paid on a commercial property known as Trump Tower. The trial court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss brought pursuant to the Citizen Participation Act and defendants appealed. The appellate court affirmed. The supreme court also affirmed, explaining the defendants could not meet their burden under the three-part test the court established in Sandholm v. Keucker where the facts established that an objective person would conclude that the purpose of the articles was to report the news rather than to elicit a particular action on the part of the government or electorate. (THEIS, NEVILLE, HOLDER WHITE, CUNNINGHAM, and O’BRIEN, concurring. ROCHFORD took no part in the decision)
Illinois Supreme Court
Civil Court
Citizen Participation Act