Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
A former employee, a competitor, or an anonymous account posts
something false about your company, and it spreads before you even see
it. A one-star review claims you cheated a customer you never had. A
rival tells your biggest client that you are about to go under. A
message board names you and calls you a fraud. The statement is not
merely insulting. It costs you the client, the deal, and the reputation
you spent years earning, and the person spreading it is hiding behind a
screen.
Illinois law gives a defamed business or professional real remedies,
and the window to use them is short. You can demand a retraction, force
an anonymous poster into the open, and sue for the harm, and in the
strongest cases the law presumes your damages without making you itemize
every lost dollar. The sooner you act, the more of your reputation you
can protect.
Can I sue over a false online review or post in Illinois?
Yes, when the statement is a false assertion of fact rather than an
opinion. To win a defamation claim in Illinois, you show that the
defendant made a false statement about you, that the defendant published
it to a third person without privilege, and that the statement harmed
you. A genuine review of a real experience is protected, but a
fabricated accusation, a made-up transaction, or a false claim that you
broke the law is not. The line between a harsh opinion and a false
statement of fact is where these cases are fought, and it is a line
Illinois courts police closely.
What is defamation per se, and does a false attack on my business qualify?
Illinois treats some statements as so damaging on their face that the
law presumes damages, which means you do not have to prove a specific
dollar loss. These are defamation per se. As the Illinois Supreme Court
explained in Bryson v. News America Publications, Inc., the categories
include words that impute the commission of a crime, that impute an
inability to perform or a want of integrity in one’s job, and, most
relevant to a business, words that prejudice a party in its trade,
profession, or business. Solaia Technology, LLC v. Specialty Publishing
Co. sets out those per se categories in current Illinois law. A false
statement that you defraud customers, cannot pay your debts, or are
incompetent at your profession strikes at the heart of the business per
se category.
Isn’t a negative review just protected opinion?
Not always, and the defense is narrower than people assume. In
Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., the United States Supreme Court
rejected the idea that labeling a statement an opinion automatically
shields it, holding that a statement is actionable if it implies a
provably false fact. A reviewer who writes “in my experience the service
was slow” states an opinion. A reviewer who writes “this company stole
my deposit” states a fact that is either true or false. The harder
hurdle for a plaintiff is the innocent construction rule. As the court
applied it in Chapski v. Copley Press, a statement that is reasonably
capable of an innocent, non-defamatory meaning cannot be defamation per
se. Illinois courts hold plaintiffs to a strict pleading standard here,
as Green v. Rogers shows, so the complaint has to be drafted with
care.
Can my company or professional practice sue, or just an individual?
A business can sue. In Republic Tobacco Co. v. North Atlantic Trading
Co., the Seventh Circuit, applying Illinois law, confirmed that a
corporation may recover for defamation that attacks its business
integrity. A related tort, commercial disparagement or trade libel,
targets false statements about the quality of your goods or services and
requires you to prove specific financial loss. Where the attack is on
the company or the professional rather than on a product, a defamation
per se claim, with its presumed damages, is usually the stronger
route.
How do I find out who posted an anonymous review?
Illinois gives you a tool built for exactly this problem. Supreme
Court Rule 224 allows a pre-suit petition to identify a person who may
be responsible in damages, and in Hadley v. Subscriber Doe, the Illinois
Supreme Court approved using Rule 224 to unmask an anonymous online
commenter, so long as the proposed defamation claim could survive a
motion to dismiss. There, an anonymous poster who called himself Fuboy
accused a candidate for public office of being a child predator, and the
court let the plaintiff force the internet provider to reveal the name
behind the screen. That means a court can order a website or platform to
disclose the identity behind an anonymous account when the post is
defamatory enough to state a claim. The screen name is not the shield
people think it is.
How long do I have to sue for defamation in Illinois?
One year. Under 735 ILCS 5/13-201, an action for slander, libel, or
violation of the right of privacy must be brought within one year after
the cause of action accrues. That is one of the shortest limitations
periods in Illinois law, and it runs quickly. Waiting to see whether the
statement fades can cost you the claim entirely.
Can a court order the review taken down?
Usually the remedy is money, not removal. Illinois courts are
reluctant to enjoin speech before trial because an injunction against
publication raises prior-restraint concerns. The practical path is a
damages claim, and for defamation per se the law presumes damages. A
well-drafted cease-and-desist letter is often the fastest first step,
because it preserves the record, puts the speaker and any platform on
notice, and frequently produces a retraction or removal without a
lawsuit.
What should you do now?
Move quickly and protect the record. First, preserve everything:
screenshot the post, the reviewer profile, and the date, because content
disappears and metadata matters. Second, do not answer the attack
publicly in a way that repeats it or escalates the fight, because your
own posts can become evidence. Third, get a cease-and-desist letter out,
both to demand a retraction and to preserve leverage. Fourth, if the
poster is anonymous, move to identify them under Rule 224 before the
trail goes cold. Fifth, talk to counsel within weeks, not months,
because the one-year clock is unforgiving and the strongest cases are
built early.
A false statement that costs you business is not something you have
to absorb. Illinois law gives you a way to answer it, and the owner or
professional who acts within the year holds the stronger hand.
Big-firm firepower, with the partners on your case
Peter S. Lubin and James V. DiTommaso are Chicago business litigation
lawyers who try cases throughout Illinois. Peter is a University of
Chicago Law School graduate who has taught trial practice there for
decades and is an Illinois Super Lawyer. He has served as lead counsel
in more than one hundred class actions and has handled more than one
hundred shareholder, LLC, derivative, breach of fiduciary duty, and
fraud matters on both the plaintiff and the defense side. Crain’s
Chicago Business credited him with the largest class action settlement
of its year, a forty million dollar recovery. The firm has been named
DuPage County Law Firm of the Year, and its lawyers have represented
companies including McDonald’s, Motorola, and Experian and have
litigated against adversaries including AT&T and General Motors.
James DiTommaso is a Chicago-Kent College of Law graduate with a
certificate in business law who served with the Illinois Appellate Court
and argued a case before the Illinois Supreme Court. When you hire this
firm, the lawyers whose names are on the door handle your case.
If a false statement is costing you clients or damaging your
professional reputation, the one-year clock is already running. Call
DiTommaso Lubin, P.C. at 630-333-0333 for a free consultation, or contact us
online.