A Chicago journalist is continuing his lawsuit against a Chicago property manager and real estate agent, accusing the property manager of evicting him and his wife from their condominium after the president of the condo association for the building at which they lived allegedly objected to articles the journalist had published that were "unflattering" to Restaurant.com, a business owned at the time by a Chicago lawyer and doctor, who is married to the condo association's president.
Since 2018, Steven Dahlman, the publisher and editor of the news site Loop North News, has been locked in a court fight with Michael Michalak, a Remax real estate agent and landlord.
Loop North News reports on news concerning “people who live and work” in Chicago’s downtown neighborhoods, including River North, Streeterville and Gold Coast. This included news about homeowners’ associations at downtown condominium buildings, including at the Marina City complex, 300 N. State Street, Chicago.
According to the complaint, Dahlman and his wife rented condos in Marina City from Michalak. They first rented a studio unit from Michalak from 2008-2014, and then a one-bedroom unit from 2010-2015. Dahlman used the studio unit as an office until 2014, the complaint said.
The complaint asserts Dahlman and his wife renewed the leases annually, with no tenant issues throughout the rental period. The complaint asserts Dahlman and Michalak also had a business relationship, as Dahlman alleged he managed business web sites for Michalak.
However, in 2015, their relationship allegedly soured, after Dahlman published 15 news stories about Restaurant.com. The articles allegedly included reports on “numerous consumer complaints that have been filed against Restaurant.com and a federal class action lawsuit against Restaurant.com.”
According to the complaint, the Marina City homeowners’ association is overseen by the association’s president Ellen Chessick.
Ellen Chessick is also the wife of Restaurant.com’s CEO and then-majority owner, Kenneth Chessick.
Kenneth Chessick is also a lawyer, who practices of counsel at the Clifford Law Offices, and is a medical doctor. His surgical practice dates back to the late 1960s. According to a biography posted by the Clifford Law Offices, Chessick’s law practice, which focuses on medical malpractice cases, has produced more than $100 million in damages and compensation clients throughout northern Illinois, including a $10 million verdict awarded in Ogle County in 2001.
According to the complaint, after the articles were published, Michalak allegedly informed Dahlman he had had a meeting with Ellen Chessick.
Two days later, according to the complaint, Michalak allegedly served the Dahlmans with a 60-day notice that he was not renewing their lease. According to the complaint, Michalak allegedly refused to explain why he was not renewing their lease.
The Dahlmans then relocated.
Three years later, they filed suit, claiming their removal from their condo was an act of retaliation in violation of the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO).
According to the complaint, the lease was not renewed “in retaliation for Plaintiff’s (Dahlman’s) writing and publishing news articles such as coverage of a federal lawsuit involving the president of the condominium association to which Mr. Michalak belongs.”
Dahlman is asking the court to award him two months’ rent; at least $5,000 in moving cots; and punitive damages of $15,000, plus legal costs.
Dahlman is representing himself in the legal action.
In response to the lawsuit, Michalak has sought and secured at least one dismissal of Dahlman’s complaint.
Michalak’s lawyers state in filings made in response to the complaint that Michalak is not obligated at this point in the proceedings to address Dahlman’s specific allegations.
In those replies, they point to several alleged legal deficiencies in Dahlman’s complaint.
However, they primarily point to Dahlman’s use of a section of the RLTO, which, they said, does not authorize Dahlman to sue for retaliation. Rather, they said, that section of the RLTO merely provides tenants with a legal tool to use in defense against an eviction action brought by a landlord.
In this case, Michalak’s lawyer argued, there was no action brought by Michalak against Dahlman. Rather, they pointed to a “surrender and release agreement” signed by Dahlman, in which the Dahlmans allegedly agreed to vacate the condo in exchange for a payment of $500 from Michalak.
Dahlman’s “claim for retaliatory non-renewal of his lease is completely without merit, unsupported by any factual allegations, and is not a cause of action that could give rise to any relief for Plaintiff,” Michalak’s lawyer wrote in a brief filed on Feb. 24, 2020.
“Plaintiff seems to misunderstand that at this time, Defendant is not required to provide Plaintiff with any answers to Plaintiff’s allegations … and therefore, Plaintiff’s continued insistence and demand that Defendant ‘explain his actions’ is improper and insufficient to overcome the fatal defects of Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint,” they added in another reply brief filed on April 3, 2020.
Michalak is represented by attorney Jenette R. Fritzshall, and others with the firm of Fritzshall & Pawlowski, of Chicago.
On Feb. 24, 2021, Cook County Judge Eileen O’Connor granted Michalak’s motion to dismiss. The order was without prejudice, and Dahlman was given until March 17 to amend his complaint.
Dahlman again amended his complaint on March 10.
In comments to the Cook County Record, Dahlman acknowledged that surrender and release agreement. However, he claimed that agreement was signed under duress and should be considered “unconscionable” by the court.
Dahlman said they “were a bit desperate to get safely to another apartment without further retaliation.” He added they particularly feared a lawsuit or that Michalak might make it more difficult for them to find another apartment elsewhere, through communications with other landlords.
He said he planned to present further evidence and arguments over that agreement to the court in further proceedings.
Neither Michalak nor Kenneth Chessick replied to emails from the Cook County Record seeking comment on the matter.