Franklin Park’s village president filed a defamation lawsuit against a village resident, claiming he was accused of sexual harassment.
Filed on April 22 in the Cook County Circuit Court, the complaint alleges Eugene Piltaver, 87, knowingly and maliciously re-published an email message with false information and accusations “knowing that such dissemination would cause great embarrassment, ridicule and substantial harm to [Village President Barrett Pedersen’s] reputation.”
The complaint is focused on a mass email written by Franklin Park resident Ken Zurek that was sent on March 21. In that email, Zurek alleges impropriety regarding the hiring of Pedersen’s executive assistant and makes accusations regarding Pedersen sexually harassing women at a restaurant in Franklin Park. Zurek claims the information was given to him by “credible” sources who wish to remain anonymous.
Piltaver is the only named defendant in the complaint and says he only forwarded the email to 12 other people with the subject heading “This very interesting!!!! What do you think about it????” because he wanted their thoughts or any verification they could provide him regarding the allegations Zurek made in the email.
The defamation suit surprised him because he only “intended to substantiate the email,” he says.
“I was just asking people, ‘What do you think?'” Piltaver said. He says no malice was ever intended by forwarding the email and he didn’t understand why he was being sued for that.
The complaint requests a trial by jury and seeks more than $50,000 plus legal costs. Piltaver said Friday he’s consulting with his attorney on what his next course of action should be.
“I’ve been a political opponent of the mayor and his administration, which could be the reason for this action against me,” Piltaver said. “Maybe I was the most vulnerable person to go after, and since Ken [Zurek] is pretty sharp, he didn’t want to tangle with him.”
Zurek, who ran unsuccessfully for the village board last year, is mentioned in Pedersen’s defamation suit because of the email, but he is not listed as a defendant in the complaint.
Zurek has been publicly critical of Pedersen and his initiatives, and his criticism has manifested as blast emails and a public Facebook group attacking Pedersen’s character and policies.
After he became aware of the lawsuit filed against Piltaver, Zurek sent out a mass email on May 5 asking his audience to take measures to make sure their email addresses are hidden from each other: “Due to complications brought about by a deeply troubled Mayor of Franklin Park ALL sent, copied, or forwarded e-mails shoud [sic] be distributed using the BLIND COPY function. That way no one but you will know who is on the e-mails distribution list! Please forward this to everone [sic] on your e-mail list.”
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On Monday, a man who identified himself as the manager for the restaurant said Pedersen has not been banned from the business.
Pedersen has been advised by his attorney, Ryan B. Jacobson, to not comment on the litigation. Jacobson said the lawsuit and his legal services are being paid for out of pocket by Pedersen and that no village money is being spent on the matter.
“This was not a constituent challenging the decisions Pedersen has made while in office. This was an outright attack of Pedersen’s morality, with no regard for the veracity of the rumor that was being spread,” Jacobson said in an emailed statement. “Mr. Piltaver cannot play the victim when his past demonstrates a clear agenda against my client, and a willingness to ‘punch below the belt’ when the consensus is that Mayor Pedersen has enhanced the lives of the people of Franklin Park.”
Alex V. Hernandez is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.