Former Chicago radio host Melissa McGurren can’t try again to sue her former employer, Hubbard Radio, for defamation, as a Chicago federal judge again found an executive at radio station WTMX did not claim McGurren lied under oath when he said the company did “not agree with Melissa’s characterization of events” surrounding her claims of workplace harassment against her former on-air partner, Eric Ferguson.
On June 30, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman denied McGurren’s attempt to revive her lawsuit, and ordered her case against Hubbard Radio Chicago LLC terminated.
McGurren, the former co-host of the once popular morning show on WTMX 101.9-FM “The Mix,” filed suit against WTMX owner, Hubbard, in 2021. In the lawsuit, McGurren asked the court to order Hubbard to pay her $10 million.
The lawsuit centered on an email sent Oct. 5, 2021, to WTMX staff by Jeff England, vice president and market manager for Hubbard. In the email, England addressed public discussion of workplace harassment and discrimination claims McGurren had filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In that complaint, McGurren accused her former co-host, Ferguson, of creating an “unbearable hostile work environment” and of abuse against her and other female WTMX employees. She further claimed the station knew about the complaints against Ferguson, yet took no action until McGurren made the allegations publicly.
Legal proceedings over those claims are continuing.
However, in October 2021, England updated WTMX on the company’s response, saying in the email that Ferguson had been removed from the air.
In that email, England further addressed McGurren’s claims. He said the company was well aware of the allegations, and had “thoroughly investigated this matter previously.”
“Suffice it to say that we do not agree with Melissa’s characterization of events, but we are committed to following the appropriate process and not litigating this matter in the public or the press,” England said in the email.
McGurren then sued Hubbard, asserting England’s statements were false and libelous. Specifically, she claimed any investigation the station may have conducted amounted to a “sham.
Further, she asserted England’s statements concerning the company’s disagreement with her “characterization of events” equated to claiming she committed to perjury by lying under oath.
In March 2022, Guzman ruled in favor of the radio station, finding England’s email merely expressed a difference of opinion, and not an accusation against McGurren’s character or any claim she had broken the law.
Following that ruling, McGurren asked Guzman for permission to amend her lawsuit in the hopes of continuing to press her claims against Hubbard.
On June 30, Judge Guzman shut down McGurren’s attempt to bring her case back online.
“The Court finds that a claim under the (Illinois Libel and Slander Act) is futile,” Guzman wrote. “As an initial matter, England’s words do not charge Plaintiff with having sworn falsely nor could they be deemed ‘in their common acceptation’ to amount to such a charge - they state that after conducting an investigation, Defendant did not agree with Plaintiff’s characterization of events, and there is no mention of a sworn statement.”
Judge Guzman further rejected McGurren’s argument that it’s not enough to find England’s statemens to be “subject to an innocent construction” and “constitutionally protected as opinion because they do not misstate facts.”
The judge said courts have repeatedly interpreted the Illinois libel law to allow for such defenses, even though they are not specifically named in the text of the Act.
McGurren has been represented in the action against Hubbard by attorneys Carmen D. Caruso and William B. Whitner, of the Carmen D. Caruso Law Firm, of Chicago.
Hubbard Radio has been represented by attorneys Steven P. Mandell, Brian D. Saucier and Lyndsey M. Wajert, of the Mandell Menkes firm; and Michael P. Roche and Kara E. Cooper, of Winston & Strawn, all of Chicago.