Make Critic Pay For Lawsuit: Burr Ridge Official

BURR RIDGE, IL – A Burr Ridge trustee says a critic should pay for filing what he considered a frivolous lawsuit against him over his Facebook page.

In May, resident Patricia Davis sued Trustee Tony Schiappa in DuPage County Court. She alleged the trustee represented himself on the Facebook page as a government actor authorized to speak on behalf of the village. Yet he includes political endorsements on the page, she said.

Illinois law bars government employees and officers of any town from taking part in political activities in their official roles.

In a court brief this week, Schiappa said Davis is wasting his and the court's time and resources "to satisfy her curiosity."

Elected officials, he said, "are not gagged from all public speech by virtue of their position."

In her filings, Davis has argued that the lawsuit does not seek to infringe on Schiappa's First Amendment rights.

Rather, she has said he could post political endorsements on a personal or campaign page.

Davis informed Schiappa and other officials about the Facebook page more than a month before her lawsuit.

But Schiappa said Davis failed to go through the proper channels to pursue her complaint. The appropriate place to determine such issues, he asserted, would be the village's Adjudication Court.

In 2021, the village formed the court. It typically deals with parking tickets, zoning violations, administrative tow penalties and other ordinance issues.

In his brief, Schiappa argued that he would not waste the taxpayers' money to deal with the "politically motivated" lawsuit. So he is representing himself.

He said the village attorney never filed an appearance with the court, although he said Patch reported the lawyer did.

Schiappa was referring to a July story based on a statement from Mayor Gary Grasso, Schiappa's political ally.

In an email to Patch at the time, Grasso said, "A resident with a concern about the action of a Trustee or Mayor should ask the Village Board to hear his/her concern. When a resident instead sues a trustee or mayor in his or her capacity as a village elected official, of course, the Village Attorney will necessarily become involved."

In that same story, Alisa Kaplan, executive director of Chicago-based Reform for Illinois, said she found it "perplexing" that the village would spend money to defend the lawsuit rather than urge Schiappa to remove the political posts in question. She said Davis was correct in her complaint.

A few days later, Schiappa responded to the lawsuit, representing himself, which Patch reported.

Schiappa also accused Patch of publishing his minor child's name, gender, address, age, height and weight. He said Patch did so through a link to Scribd, where Patch often posts documents, such as lawsuits.

"(T)here is 100% no reason for his minor child to have had his name, address and other identifying factors published in the Burr Ridge Patch," Schiappa's brief said.

Patch checked its Scribd links and could find no such information. In a message to the trustee Monday, Patch offered to remove such a document if he could identify its location. Schiappa did not respond.

Such information may have appeared in a process server's report.

Schiappa asked the court to impose sanctions on Davis, including costs incurred for his defense.

In the spring, Schiappa promoted on the Facebook page the candidacies of Arlene Cabana and Baron Leacock, who were running for the Lyons Township High School and Hinsdale High School District 86 boards, respectively.

Schiappa's page is titled "Tony Schiappa, Burr Ridge Trustee." It was formerly categorized as "Government & Public Service." But after Davis raised concerns, he changed it to "Political Candidate" and then "Public Figure."

The introduction still states, "Tony Schiappa is honored to be one of the trustees of the Village of Burr Ridge."