Ct. July 20, 2009), was a libel suit brought by Horizon Realty Group, a Chicago real estate management company, against one of its former tenants, Amanda Bonnen, in Cook County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit was dismissed after a judge determined that the actions did not meet the definition of libel.
Sam Bayard, assistant director of Harvard's Citizen Media Law Project called the suit "foolhardy", adding "They chose to file a lawsuit, instead drawing more attention to it," rather than handling the matter as a consumer complaint.
[5] Michael later stated that Bonnen's Twitter post emerged from an earlier lawsuit by Bonnen that Horizon violated the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance, although Michael denied his suit was a strategic lawsuit against public participation.
On January 21, 2010, Horizon's suit was dismissed; the judge felt the original tweet was too vague to meet the strict definition of libel.