An appellate court has ruled a journalist can continue his lawsuit against his former Marina City landlord, who kicked him out allegedly because he ran stories critical of the business activities of the husband of the homeowners' association president.
While the journalist signed an agreement to vacate his condominium and not sue the landlord, the court said it believed that deal was only signed because the landlord allegedly made threats, so the agreement is invalid and the suit can proceed.
The Dec. 9 ruling was written by Appellate Justice Carl Walker, with concurrence from Justices Sharon Odeon Johnson and Sanjay Tailor, of Illinois First District Appellate Court. The ruling favored Steven Ray Dahlman in his action against Michael Michalak.
Dahlman is publisher and editor of the website Loop North News, which reports on Chicago's downtown neighborhoods, including the Gold Coast, River North and Streeterville.
Michalak is a property manager and real estate agent.
In 2010, Dahlman and his wife started renting a Marina City condominium from Michalak. Dahlman claims in 2015 Michalak "angrily" told Dahlman he no longer wanted them as tenants, allegedly said he would "burn the place down" and allegedly threatened Dahlman's wife, according to Dahlman's allegations.
Dahlman claimed he did not report the matter to police because he and his wife did not want to further "infuriate" Michalak and risk Michalak slandering them to prospective landlords.
As a consequence, Dahlman signed a "Surrender and Release Agreement," in which Dahlman agreed, among other things, to not sue Michalak in connection with their tenant-landlord relationship.
Dahlman said the reason he believed Michalak booted him, was because Loop North News reported on consumer complaints against dining deals website Restaurant.com and reported on a class action against the business. The CEO of Restaurant.com was lawyer and doctor Kenneth Chessick, whose wife is Ellen Chessick, president of the Marina City homeowners' association, court papers said.
Restaurant.com was sold in 2020 amid lawsuits and reports of large numbers of customer complaints and financial troubles.
Dahlman sued Michalak in 2018 in Cook County Circuit Court, asserting Michalak violated a Chicago city ordinance that deals with business relations between residential tenants and landlords. Specifically, Dahlman contended Michalak improperly retaliated because Dahlman exercised his right to free speech and freedom of the press in reporting on Restaurant.com's problems, which allegedly bothered the Chessicks.
Cook County Judge Lorraine M. Murphy threw out Dahlman's suit, saying Dahlman surrendered his right to sue when he signed the Surrender and Release Agreement.
The appeals panel overrode Murphy, determining Dahlman had a plausible case.
"Dahlman alleged Michalak threatened to 'burn the place down.' Michalak’s unlimited access to Dahlman’s home made the threat more credible. The allegation of a specific wrongful threat to destroy Dahlman’s home creates an issue of fact concerning whether duress voids the release," Walker said in the appellate opinion.
Walker added: "A reasonably prudent person may also have no suitable alternative when faced with a real threat of homelessness. We find Dahlman’s fear that Michalak could persuade other landlords not to rent an apartment to him and his wife may also amount to duress that voids the release."
Walker sent the case back to circuit court for further proceedings.
Dahlman has represented himself in court.
Michalak has been defended by Jenette R. Fritzshall and Brad J. Pawlowski, of Fritzshall & Pawlowski, of Chicago.