A Cook County judge will allow Orland Park’s ongoing lawsuit against former Mayor Keith Pekau to move forward while throwing out one of the village’s claims against him.
While Pekau sought to dismiss the village’s claims for declaratory judgment and breach of fiduciary duty, only the latter was successful. The lawsuit, filed almost a year ago, aims to block Pekau from disclosing confidential information about the village he gained access to as mayor and require him to return the records he obtained.
“The village maintains that former public officials do not have the authority to unilaterally disclose confidential governmental information acquired through their public office,” according to a news release posted to the village website on Friday.
The village said Moreland’s July 6 decision stated the village’s allegations “can be interpreted as seeking relief only with respect to speech that Pekau gained through his public office, effectively negating Pekau’s public claims that the Village seeks to prevent him from speaking at all.”
Meanwhile, a news release Pekau sent out Saturday highlighted Moreland’s dismissal of the breach of fiduciary duty claim, which he said requires that the village identify actual harm suffered as a result of Pekau’s actions.
“The remaining issues are now limited to requests for declaratory judgments, and I remain confident they will ultimately be resolved on the facts and the law,” Pekau said.
Pekau also said, as he has over past months, that taxpayers deserve to know what confidential information was allegedly disclosed, which laws Pekau violated and “why they continue paying for a lawsuit that now consists only of requests for declaratory judgments.”
The village’s news release says while Moreland’s order “dismissed certain limited allegations relating to pleading issues, it did so in a way that permits the village to amend its complaint.”
While Pekau raises questions about the village’s continuation of a lawsuit he says has “steadily narrowed,” the village said it previously offered to dismiss the suit if Pekau agreed to return village records and stop spreading confidential information.
Moreland in January denied another motion Pekau put forward to end a court order that required he remove confidential village information from his blog and social media and barred him from publishing other information. The temporary restraining order remains in effect, according to the village.
Since Pekau’s effort to dismiss the lawsuit failed, the village is hoping to consolidate the case with a separate lawsuit Pekau filed against the municipality, which the former mayor opposes. Judge Kate Moreland is scheduled to decide whether to consolidate the two cases during a hearing at 10:30 a.m. on July 30.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
