Joseph Smith and Matthew Clark successfully moved to dismiss Illinois claims for defamation per se and tortious interference with a prospective business advantage. The plaintiff alleged that our client, a member of a village board of trustees, had sent copies of the plaintiff’s email and text message communications to his employer and accused him of harassment and threats. The plaintiff alleged that this caused him to lose a million-dollar promotion. The dismissal was affirmed on appeal. The Illinois Appellate Court held that sending the plaintiff’s own communications to his employer is not actionable as defamation per se, that other alleged statements were not actionable as defamation per se because they were substantially true or capable of innocent construction, and that requesting a law enforcement agency to investigate whether a crime has occurred is not actionable as defamation per se. Younge v. Berman, 2025 IL App (2d) 240354.
