Bonhomme v. St. James
2012 IL 112393
| Ill. | 2012Background
- Plaintiff Paula Bonhomme sued Janna St. James for damages from an online relationship where St. James posed as a man, Jesse James, and created multiple fictitious online characters.
- The relationship lasted about two years; plaintiff sent gifts totaling over $10,000 and incurred therapy and travel expenses.
- Defendant used voice alteration and multiple online personas to maintain the ruse, and eventually misrepresented Jesse’s death and other facts.
- Plaintiff ultimately moved to amend to a single-count fraudulent misrepresentation claim; the trial court dismissed the third amended complaint with prejudice.
- Appellate court largely affirmed the dismissal of earlier counts but reversed on the fraudulent misrepresentation claim; the Illinois Supreme Court granted review.
- The core legal question concerns whether plaintiff abandoned the earlier counts and whether fraudulent misrepresentation is cognizable in this purely personal, non-commercial context.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waiver/abandonment of earlier counts following amendment | Bonhomme did not intend to abandon the counts; she preserved them via motions and notices. | Waiver applies when a final amendment is complete and does not reference prior counts. | Bonhomme abandoned the earlier counts; waiver applies and those issues are not reviewable. |
| Whether fraudulent misrepresentation can lie in a purely personal, non-commercial setting | Fraudulent misrepresentation should apply where deceit caused damages even outside traditional business contexts. | Fraudulent misrepresentation is a tort of deceit traditionally limited to commercial/transactional settings. | Fraudulent misrepresentation cannot be pleaded for purely personal deception; Doe v. Dilling controls. |
Key Cases Cited
- Foxcroft Townhome Owners Ass’n v. Hoffman-Rosner Corp., 96 Ill.2d 150 (Ill. 1983) (waiver when final amended complaint does not reference prior pleadings; efficiency concerns)
- Barnett v. Zion Park Dist., 171 Ill.2d 378 (Ill. 1996) (where earlier counts are not incorporated, appellate review of those counts is waived)
- Boatmen’s National Bank of Belleville v. Direct Lines, Inc., 167 Ill.2d 88 (Ill. 1995) (amendments not referencing prior claims waiver of objections to earlier dismissals)
- Doe v. Dilling, 228 Ill.2d 324 (Ill. 2008) (fraudulent misrepresentation has narrow historical scope and is not automatically extended to purely personal settings)