A Cook County judge said Thursday attorneys for state Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort, must for the second time amend a lawsuit alleging he was the target of a smear campaign allegedly perpetrated by Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz and others.
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Judge Carrie Hamilton found Hastings’ original lawsuit was filed beyond the statute of limitations for claims including defamation and civil conspiracy. She dismissed that complaint but in October allowed Hastings to amend certain claims including intentional infliction of emotional distress.
However, Hamilton said Thursday the amended lawsuit did not adequately address how or when the alleged smear campaign caused Hastings emotional distress. Hastings is accusing Glotz, Big Tent Coalition and Timothy Pawula of sending out obscene text messages “to humiliate and discredit” Hastings, “with the reasonable foreseeability that he would suffer severe emotional distress,” according to the amended complaint.
Ryan Jacobson, attorney for Hastings, defended the lack of details provided about the effects of the defendants’ conduct during the hearing, saying “to hand the keys of that personal information to the very people who admit to torturing (Hastings) over the course of three and four years makes me feel uncomfortable.”
Jacobson pointed out symptoms Hastings allegedly experienced that are laid out in the amended complaint, including sleeplessness, anxiety, embarrassment and mental anguish. The amended complaint says the emotional distress compounded over the course of several years as the defendants and third parties they hired shared, reposted or republished offensive messages “on a multitude of platforms, through gossip mongering, and by electronic mail and text.”
Jacobson said the behaviors escalated over time, with Hastings filing a police report after he received an anonymous phone call in summer 2023 threatening physical violence. He said Hastings was concerned the caller was connected to the defendants.
Big Tent Coalition, in a motion to dismiss the amended lawsuit, argued that Hastings did not sufficiently link the anonymous phone call or any other calls received with any defendant and said his allegations fall short of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Hamilton agreed to dismiss the amended lawsuit while allowing Hastings’ attorneys to file another amendment.
“I don’t want to pry into anybody’s mental health or physical well being, unless the law says that we need to,” she said.
But she said the amended lawsuit lacked in description of the effects the alleged offensive messages had on Hastings.
“You’re going to have to find a way to provide more regarding the effect, and also when the effect happened, because it’s not clear to me at all from this complaint,” Hamilton said.
Jacobson said his firm, Amundsen Davis, needed 30 days to file the newest complaint. The next hearing was scheduled for 11 a.m. on May 20, over Zoom.
In the amended lawsuit, Hastings claims the smear campaign was at least in part fueled in retaliation for Hastings’ position on the Tinley Park Mental Health Center. Glotz in 2022 blamed Hastings for failing to introduce legislation that would have sold the mental health center to Tinley Park for redevelopment.
Big Tent Coalition was a political action committee founded by Tim Ozinga, R-Mokena, who was state representative in the 37th House District before abruptly resigning in April 2024. Pawula was Ozinga’s chief of staff and was treasurer of his election committee.
Pawula was investigated after Hastings lodged a complaint with state police, but charges of harassment through electronic communication and transmitting obscene messages were dropped.
But Pawula recently stood trial after being charged in October 2024 with two counts of both electronic harassment and transmitting obscene messages after allegedly sending messages including one that claimed a former candidate for Tinley Park clerk lusted for both votes and sexual relations with state Rep. Bob Rita. Both Hastings and Rita testified during the trial.
Also ongoing is a lawsuit Hastings brought against Samantha Gasca, his opponent in a 2024 election, similarly alleging she and her election committee conducted a smear campaign against him. The next hearing in that case is scheduled for 11 a.m. on March 25, with Hamilton as the presiding judge.
Hastings has used campaign funds to cover attorneys fees in both lawsuits, according to most recent campaign reports detailing expenses between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Hastings’ committee paid Amundsen Davis $35,000 on both Oct. 2 and Nov. 5 and paid Odelson, Sterk, Murphey and Frazier $8,000 on Nov. 17.
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