Glorioso v. Sun-Times Media Holdings, LLC

1

2024 IL 130137

MAURO GLORIOSO, Appellee, v. SUN-TIMES MEDIA HOLDINGS, LLC, et al., Appellants.

No. 130137

Supreme Court of Illinois

November 21, 2024

OVERSTREET, JUSTICE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Theis and Justices Neville, Holder White, Cunningham, and O'Brien concurred in the judgment and opinion.

Justice Rochford took no part in the decision.

OPINION

OVERSTREET, JUSTICE

¶ 1 Defendants, Sun-Times Media Holdings, LLC, and Tim Novak appeal the judgment of the appellate court, which affirmed an order of the circuit court of Cook County that denied their second motion to dismiss the defamation complaint filed by plaintiff, Mauro Glorioso. On appeal, defendants contend the complaint is subject to dismissal as a "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP)" pursuant to section 15 of the Citizen Participation Act (Act). 735 ILCS 110/15 (West 2022). For the following reasons, we find the lawsuit is not a SLAPP and affirm.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 A. Plaintiff's Complaint

¶ 4 The following facts are derived from plaintiff's complaint, which he filed on January 5, 2021. Plaintiff is an Illinois attorney who was employed by the Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) from December 2000 through October 2020. After working as an administrative law judge (ALJ) for eight years he was appointed as a PTAB commissioner and, in 2016, as chairman of PTAB, where he served until March 2019. At that time, Governor Pritzker appointed him executive director and general counsel of PTAB.

¶ 5 On February 7, 2020, defendant published through the Chicago Sun-Times website an article captioned "President's Chicago tax appeal on Trump Tower is under investigation" (February 7 article) (Tim Novak President's Chicago Tax Appeal on Trump Tower Is Under Investigation, Chi. Sun-Times, Feb. 7, 2000, https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/2/7/21126855/donald-trump-tower-chicago-property-tax-appeal-investigation [https://perma.cc/5VEN-YCLQ]). The subheading of the February 7 article read "State inspector general, Pritzker administration looking into allegation a Republican state agency head pressured staff to slash by $1M the $2.5M in property taxes Donald Trump paid in 2012." Id. According to the complaint, the article falsely identified plaintiff as being under investigation for pressuring PTAB staff to grant a real estate reduction in excess of $1 million on the property known as Trump Tower, based upon political loyalty, rather than the merits of the case. In addition, the complaint alleges the February 7 article falsely stated that plaintiff did this to "cut the President a break" and that he "rejected PTAB staff's decision to deny Trump any award" as a consequence of plaintiff's "political motivations," which were "improperly driving the decisionmaking."

¶ 6 On Sunday, February 9, 2020, defendant republished a print version of the February 7 article (February 9 article) in the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. See Tim Novak, Prez's Tax Appeal on Chicago Tower Under Investigation, Chi. SunTimes, Feb. 9, 2000, at 4. On the front page of that edition, defendant published a large color photograph of Trump Tower, with a superimposed photograph of President Donald Trump waving, and in large, block letters printed "PROBING PREZ'S CHICAGO TOWER TAX APPEAL." Id. at 1. Underneath that caption was the subheading "Two investigations looking into allegation that a Republican state agency head pressured staff to slash property taxes Trump paid in 2012." Id. The front page directed readers to the inside pages of the newspaper, which reprinted the substance of the February 7 article, along with a new headline in large, block print that read "PREZ'S TAX APPEAL ON CHICAGO TOWER UNDER INVESTIGATION," followed by the subheading "State inspector, Pritzker administration looking into allegation a Republican state agency head pressured staff to slash $2.5M property taxes Trump paid in 2012 to $1M." Id. at 4. The article also included a color photograph of plaintiff.

¶ 7 On October 9, 2020, defendant published another article (October 9 article), which was captioned "Pritzker dumps official who pushed for Trump to get $1 million refund on Chicago tower's taxes." See Tim Novak, Pritzker Dumps Official Who Pushed for Trump to Get $1 Million Refund on Chicago Tower's Taxes, Chi. Sun-Times (Oct. 9, 2020), https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/10/9/21509933/ trump-tower-chicago-property-tax-dispute-pritzker-mauro-glorioso-illinois-property-tax-appeal-board [https://perma.cc/MSV5-UZ3M]. The October 9 article included the subheading "[Plaintiff], a Westchester Republican the governor appointed to head the [PTAB] is under a state investigation over his Trump Tower recommendation." Id. The complaint alleges the article falsely identified plaintiff as having "pushed" or "pressured" a refund for Trump based on political motivations, rather than the merits of the appeal. The October 9 article further stated, "[t]he 64-year-old Westchester resident and staunch Republican rejected a report from hearing officer Simeon Nockov, who found that Trump didn't merit a refund because Burke's law firm didn't present sufficient evidence to support one." Id. The complaint alleges the October 9 article also falsely stated that "[a]ny tax refund for Trump would come out of property taxes to the city of Chicago and eight other government agencies, the Chicago Public Schools losing the biggest chunk of money: more than $540,000 if the president gets what [plaintiff] wants." Id. ¶ 8 On Sunday, October 11, 2020, defendant republished a print version of the October 9 article (October 11 article). On the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper of that date was a large, color photograph of Trump Tower and, in block letters, a caption reading "GOV AXES OFFICIAL WHO PUSHED FOR $1M TAX REFUND ON TRUMP TOWER." Tim Novak, Gov Axes Official Who Pushed for $1m Tax Refund on Trump Tower, Chi. Sun-Times, Oct. 11, 2020, at 1. Underneath the caption was a color photograph of plaintiff and the subheading, "[Plaintiff], a Westchester Republican who Pritzker appointed to head the [PTAB], is under state investigation over his recommendation." Id. The front-page introduction then directed readers to a reprint of the October 9 article, which was modified to include the headline "PRITZKER DUMPS OFFICIAL WHO PUSHED FOR TRUMP TO GET $1M REFUND ON TOWER'S TAXES." Id. at 18. The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the articles were circulated in print form to more than 120,000 people each and generally circulated by defendant on the Internet.

¶ 9 Counts I and II of the complaint allege a cause of action for defamation per quod based on the publication of the February 7 and February 9 articles respectively. In support, these counts allege there had been a confidential, anonymous complaint filed with the Office of the Executive Inspector General (OEIG) regarding the Trump Tower PTAB appeal. Plaintiff alleges that, although defendants acknowledged having reviewed this report, the February articles dramatically distorted the substance of that report. Specifically, he alleges that, contrary to the statements published therein, there were no statements in the anonymous complaint that plaintiff (i) "pressured his staff to cut the president a break," (ii) "pressured his staff to rule in the president's favor," or (iii) "rejected the [PTAB] staff's decision to deny Trump any refund." Further, the complaint alleges there was no allegation in the anonymous complaint that plaintiff directed that a legal decision on the Trump Tower property tax appeal be driven by political motivations rather than the merits of the case. Count I alleges the February articles do not constitute fair reports of the anonymous complaint and falsely depict plaintiff as a corrupt political official lacking integrity in his occupation and profession.

¶ 10 Counts I and II allege that statements published in the February articles were false in that he never directed PTAB's initial decision in the Trump Tower PTAB appeal be rejected and never directed that a PTAB decision finding in favor of Trump Tower and refunding more than $1 million be substituted in its place. He alleges he never directed a decision in any PTAB case be determined on the basis of political affiliation rather than the merits of the case and that such conduct on his part was not charged in the anonymous complaint.

¶ 11 Counts III and IV allege causes of action based on defamation per se based on the October 9 article and the October 11 article, respectively. These counts allege that defendant used plaintiff's anticipated termination as PTAB executive director and general counsel in October 2020 as a basis to publish further false statements concerning the anonymous complaint. According to these counts, the October articles falsely reported that the anonymous complaint alleged plaintiff ordered PTAB to approve the $1 million payout for Trump, rejecting a staff report that found no valid reason to support the refund on Trump Tower. These counts allege defendant knew plaintiff was without authority to order such action by PTAB, as he was a commissioner at the time of the anonymous complaint's allegations and not executive director. Finally, these counts allege the October articles correlated plaintiff's actions with jeopardizing funding for Chicago public schools, a correlation that is false and without foundation.

¶ 12 Counts I though IV (the defamation counts) alleged that the statements made in the February articles and the October articles did not constitute a fair report of the contents of the anonymous complaint and were made with actual malice because defendant knew they were false or acted with reckless disregard of their...