Wilkow v. Forbes, Inc. case brief

Wilkow v. Forbes, Inc. case brief summary
241 F.3d 552 (7th Cir. 2001)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Plaintiff appealed from the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, dismissing his complaint alleging defamation under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted.

CASE FACTS
Plaintiff filed a libel suit under the diversity jurisdiction, contending that defendant magazine and author of an article defamed him by asserting that he was in poverty and had filched the bank's money. The district court dismissed the complaint under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted and plaintiff appealed.

DISCUSSION

• The appellate court affirmed. 
• It was a misstep for the district court to dismiss the action since plaintiff pled defamation which was a recognized legal claim. 
• The appellate court treated the case as if the district court had granted summary judgment and found plaintiff's cause of action failed. 
• The article in question did not misstate any of the details of the situation, and was not defamatory under Illinois law.

CONCLUSION
The appellate court affirmed. Although the district court erred in dismissing the complaint for failure to state a claim, plaintiff's defamation action failed because the article in question was not defamatory since an author's opinion about business ethics was not defamatory under Illinois law.

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