Facebook comments after Hanley Furniture building fire spark lawsuit

July 08--ROCKFORD -- The owner of the former Hanley Furniture building has filed a lawsuit against nine people he says defamed him on Facebook by accusing him of setting the fire that destroyed his building.

The defamation lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Winnebago County Circuit Court by Hanley Lofts, developer Justin Fern and Urban Equity Properties. On June 25, a fire tore through the former Hanley Furniture building at 301 S. Main St. The structure, initially slated to be redeveloped into loft apartments, has been razed.

The defendants are accused of making disparaging comments on various TV stations' and a crime site's Facebook pages. They are: Joe Downey, Jodi Dierks, Allison Doering, Pat McCann, Joseph Barten, Steve Doyle, Will Parrott, Allix D'Ann Cardenas and Mike Stambaugh.

Downey, for example, is accused of writing: "Next time you burn your own building down be more prepared to deal with the accusations of doing so than just threatening to sue anyone who says you did what you did," according to the lawsuit.

Fern, Hanley Lofts and Urban Equity Properties didn't have full-coverage insurance on the building, according to the lawsuit. Instead, a liability policy was in place, which could cover situations where someone was injured in the building.

"...Neither Fern, nor Hanley, nor UEP stood to gain from the fire," according to the lawsuit.

Fern's attorney, Jeff Orduno declined to comment. A message was left today for Fern, but he wasn't available for comment.

Messages were left for Dierks, Barten, Doyle, Parrott, Cardenas and Stambaugh. Downey and McCann couldn't be reached for comment.

In a July 4 Facebook post, Orduno asks for anyone with information about the nine defendants to share it with him.

"I have a special delivery coming for each of them," Orduno wrote. "I'm sure they'll all love it! It's the kind of gift that just keeps on giving."

Don Craven, an attorney for the Illinois Press Association, told the Register Star today that writing something on Facebook is considered publication for purposes of a defamation case.

"All you have to do is say it to somebody besides who you're talking about," Craven said, noting that publication can be in the form of saying it to another person, writing it on Facebook, or writing it in a letter that is mailed. "To accuse someone of the crime of arson ... is defamatory, per se."

But it depends on precisely what is written as to whether those filing the suit will win in court, Craven said

Doering, 22, of Rockford, said she learned of the lawsuit this afternoon after a friend from high school showed her screen shots of Orduno's Facebook posts. At first she thought it was a joke.

"I was shocked," she said. "I didn't realize that people could just post on Facebook 'hey, do you have any information about these people' and file a lawsuit. I find it odd that there was posting on Facebook (by Orduno) before I was contacted by a process server.

"That, in my opinion, is not very professional," said Doering, a stay-at-home mom.

In the lawsuit, Doering is accused of writing on WIFR-TV's Facebook page: "they're about to have their hands on a huge check..." Doering admitted writing that, saying today that she wouldn't call that an accusation.

"I suppose if they did get the insurance payout they would have a check in their hands," she said.

The lawsuit accuses Doering of writing: "seems like good ol' Urban Equity slumlords needed an insurance payout."

Doering didn't deny calling them "slumlords," saying her mother used to live in an Urban Equity Properties unit in South Beloit that should have been condemned. She said she plans to contact Prairie State Legal Services on Monday.

The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 from each of the defendants. Craven said defamation suits aren't always about money but making people stop writing those comments.

"It does tend to calm people down a little bit or makes them think twice before pushing send," he said. "It's likely this is intended to yap shut."

The next hearing is set for Oct. 4 at the Winnebago County Courthouse.

Kristen Zambo: 815-987-1339; [email protected]; @KristenZambo

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