Court Opinion

ID: 9742321
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:10:43.721417+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:30.977926
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE UNVERZAGT, dissenting: I cannot agree that the letter, read as a whole, is capable of an innocent construction. The library board’s letter does not only complain of lack of opportunity to respond to the village board’s concerns, it accuses the village administrator of “cheap and dishonest government” because he called in a press release setting forth the village board’s concerns about the impending referendum. It charges the plaintiff with “[making] himself a spokesman for the other village officials who are all residents and tax payers [of the village]” and of resorting to “dirty tricks” because he was “so concerned about the future of the Village, in which he does not reside nor pay taxes e ° The fourth paragraph of the letter in question admits in effect that the village board did have concerns. Notwithstanding that, however, the library board’s letter requested the plaintiff be reprimanded for having called in that information to the press — ostensibly an act not within the realm of “proper procedures”— and that he publicly apologize, thus restoring “honest and upright government” to the village. When read in the context of the first four paragraphs of the letter which are directed against the village board members, the remaining paragraphs of and concerning the plaintiff give rise to the factual inferences that he acted clandestinely without the knowledge and/or authority of the village board, that he failed to observe appropriate public relations procedures, that he was guilty of taking a “cheap shot” in order to defeat the referendum, and that he wrongfully presumed to speak for the officials of a village in which he had no financial stake or abiding interest. Such inferences smack of untoward aggressiveness and personal power unbecoming a village administrator who is hired to implement, not initiate. The suggestion flows from the letter as a whole that, although the village board had concerns, the village administrator should not have made them public knowledge because they were not formulated by the village board in a timely enough fashion to suit the defendants. Further, the letter imputes that the responsibility for making the concerns a matter of public information was totally the dishonest and underhanded doing of the plaintiff. Such an imputation is highly prejudicial to the perceived role of a professional municipal administrator and, as such, falls within the last two of the four categories of libel per se, noted in the majority opinion. Although the parties there were aligned differently than here, it was held in Springer v. Harwig (1981), 94 Ill. App. 3d 281, that a village administrator has an absolute privilege within the scope of his duties to discuss matters that are legitimately related to the official responsibilities of that office. Further, I believe most citizens commonly regard the village administrator as the spokesperson for their elected officials. The imputation in the letter that the administrator spoke without authority in the instant case severely, if not irreparably, damaged one of his most essential management tools: his credibility. Application of the innocent construction rule in this case would only add more metal to a rule that is practically iron-clad now.* 1  Upon review of an order dismissing a complaint, we must determine whether the allegations of the complaint, when interpreted in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, are sufficient to set forth a cause of action upon which relief may be granted. A complaint must not be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action unless it clearly appears that no set of facts could be proved under the pleadings which would entitle the plaintiff to relief. (Hoffman v. Allstate Insurance Co. (1980), 85 Ill. App. 3d 631, 633; Kenneke v. First National Bank (1978), 65 Ill. App. 3d 10.) I cannot agree with the trial court that the letter is capable of an innocent construction or that it therefore clearly appears that no set of facts could be proved which would entitle the plaintiff to relief. I agree, though, as the trial court found, that the arguments as to privilege and fair comment cannot be determined as a matter of law on the pleadings. Because the trial court dismissed the complaint on the basis of innocent construction, it made no determination of the sufficiency of the “actual malice” allegation which is required here since plaintiff admits he is a public official (see New York Times Company v. Sullivan (1964), 376 U.S. 254, 11 L. Ed. 2d 686, 84 S. Ct. 710), nor have defendants presented any argument here as to that issue. I believe that actual malice has been sufficiently alleged in the complaint when considered in light of the factual inferences arising from the face of the allegedly libelous statements in the context of the letter itself which was attached to the complaint in full as an exhibit. Coursey v. Greater Niles Township Publishing Corp. (1968), 40 Ill. 2d 257; Colson v. Stieg (1980), 86 Ill. App. 3d 993. I therefore am of the opinion that the judgment of the circuit court of Du Page County should be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings.   See Polelle, The Guilt of the “Innocent Construction Rule” in Illinois Defamation Law, 1 N. Ill. U.L. Rev. 181 (1981).