From Wolinski v. Newsweek Digital, LLC, decided yesterday by Judge Jeremy Daniel (N.D. Ill.):
According to the amended complaint, in February 2019, Plaintiff Alex Wolinski, a sergeant in the Chicago Police Department, supervised a tactical team of twelve Chicago Police Department officers in the execution of a search warrant at the home of Ms. Anjanette Young. Upon entering her home, the officers encountered Ms. Young, naked, and handcuffed her. One of the officers covered Ms. Young's naked body with a large blanket that was located in her home.
It was ultimately determined that neither Ms. Young nor her residence had any connection to the target of the search warrant. The incident, which was captured on video by the officers' body-worn cameras ("BWC"), led to a Civilian Office of Police Accountability ("COPA") investigation and a lawsuit between Ms. Young and the City of Chicago.
In January 2022, Defendant Newsweek Digital, LLC published an article regarding the search and the resulting settlement that Ms. Young received from the City. In the article, Newsweek cited COPA's recommendation that Wolinski be suspended for a year with the possibility of "separation from the department." The article also purported to describe the BWC footage of the incident, stating:
Body camera footage from that night shows police breaking down Young's door while she was in the middle of undressing. She is seen handcuffed naked for about 17 minutes and is heard repeatedly telling officers they were at the wrong address.
Wolinski filed the instant defamation suit against Newsweek for statements made in the above publication. Wolinski alleges that the statement that Ms. Young was "seen handcuffed naked for about 17 minutes" is a substantial deviation from what is actually portrayed in the officers' BWC footage and gives rise to the inference that he lacked integrity in performing his duties as a police officer and consciously disregarded Ms. Young's dignity….
