[Update: On September 21, 2012, Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus S. Machnik reversed the Village of Lincolnwood hearing officer’s decision, finding that MCO editor Steven Dahlman did not “facilitate a breach of the peace.”]

April 25, 2012 – The Village of Lincolnwood, Illinois, located northwest of Chicago, has fined the editor of Marina City Online over emails sent to a frequent subject of MCO news articles. During an email exchange on March 9, Steven Dahlman was accused of sending profanity-laced emails to Mindy Verson, who in 2009 filed a consumer complaint against Marina Towers Condominium Association and has since filed lawsuits against the City of Chicago and Bayer Corporation.

Dahlman was fined $1,500. Administrative Law Judge David Eterno refused to hear claims of threats, inflammatory comments, over-litigiousness, and other aggressive behavior by Verson in recent years, explaining they did not address whether or not his emails to her were offensive.

Verson, who recently moved to Lincolnwood, filed a complaint of “cyber bullying” with the village’s police department, which declined to press criminal charges but referred the case to the civil court.

The order by Lincolnwood’s administrative hearing division was issued on April 24. Dahlman has until May 29 to appeal the order to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

 Related story: Condo owner behind MTCA consumer complaint now suing Bayer