This is a case where the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed an award of sanctions to the Defendant.
In Fitzgerald v. O’Donnell, 2016 IL App (1st) 153112-U, the plaintiffs brought a defamation lawsuit against O’Donnell. They alleged that he had mailed a series of anonymous letters to “various public officials and members of the media in political retaliation,” for their decision to support a political opponent of the Defendant.
In their third amended complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that they had retained a handwriting expert who supported their allegation that O’Donnell had addressed the envelopes. The allegation stated: “Based upon handwriting analysis of the handwritten envelopes used to mail the November 2011 letters and the February 2012 letter, [O’Donnell] addressed the envelopes and mailed the letters to recipients described herein.”
During discovery, the deposition of Plaintiffs’ handwriting expert was taken. The expert did not provide a conclusive opinion that O’Donnell addressed the envelopes which contained the defamatory letters.
O’Donnell moved for summary judgment on that issue, but the court denied the motion. Two months later, however, the court granted O’Donnell’s sanctions motion on the ground that the allegations in Paragraph 46 were not well-grounded in fact or law. The court further noted that “[p]laintiffs made claims during the July 08, 2013 hearing, in the presence of this Court, that the [p]laintiffs had verifiable proof that [O’Donnell] addressed the letter.” ¶ 25. The court awarded $43,641.75 in legal fees and $9,303.50 in costs to O’Donnell. Paragraph 26.
The court, using an abuse of discretion standard, affirmed the sanctions award. The court reasoned that the plaintiffs failed to submit proof that they had consulted with a handwriting expert before they filed the case and that the handwriting expert had supported their claim.
An award of sanctions is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Here, the court felt there was sufficient support in the record to affirm the sanctions award.
Edward X. Clinton, Jr.
Illinois Procedure and Sanctions Decisions 