BHH Recovers $62K In Anti-SLAPP Fees And Preemptive Sanctions For Frivolous Defamation Filings

The First Amendment had a good day in McHenry County, Illinois recently. In August, BHH prevailed on an anti-SLAPP motion on behalf of an anonymous political group filed by two McHenry County Board candidates. The flyers accused Board candidate Orville Brettman of having testified before a grand jury that he was a member of paramilitary group that engaged in illegal spying and bombed a suburban church. In addition, the flyers accused Brettman’s fellow Board candidate of being linked to a death threat against McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks, who is Jewish. The court determined that the flyer statements were substantially true, and on November 5, 2019, awarded the anonymous political group, known as the Illinois Integrity Fund, over $62,000 in attorneys fees. In addition, the Illinois Integrity Fund filed a motion for sanctions against Brettman and Schuster’s fellow Board candidates Charles Wheeler and Michael Rein who filed companion defamation suits arising from similar flyers accusing them of being responsible for a $25,000 settlement arising from the Board’s violation of the Open Meetings Act and taking thousands of dollars in health and transportation benefits as County Board members despite their small government platform. Wheeler and Rein quickly voluntarily dismissed their defamation suits after Illinois Integrity Fund’s anti-SLAPP victory against Brettman and Schuster. The court granted Illinois Integrity Fund’s request that Wheeler and Rein be forced to pay $2500 in sanctions if they choose to refile the same or similar defamation claims. Read More Here