Posted by chicagomedia.org on September 27, 2008 at 09:48:57:
Stebic family: CBS2 'reckless' and 'malicious'
Craig Stebic's family filed a lawsuit against CBS and several of the station's reporters Friday, claiming their coverage of the relationship between Craig Stebic and former NBC reporter Amy Jacobson was false, malicious and illegal.
Stebic's sister, Jill Webb and her husband Rob L.bb claim they and their children suffered "severe emotional distress" from the media attention surrounding Jacobson's swim with the family last summer in Stebic's Plainfield home.
The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, claims that CBS Broadcasting, Inc. and its employees, Joseph Ahern; Carol Fowler; Mike Puccinelli; Rob Johnson; Michele Weldon and Alita Guillen were reckless in reporting the Jacobson incident, which has allegedly alienated and damaged their family.
The suit stems from a July 6, 2007 incident when Jacobson, who worked for 11 years as a reporter for NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, went to the Stebic home, allegedly to discuss the highly publicized disappearance Stebic's wife, Lisa, who has been missing since April 30, 2007.
Video footage of the incident emerged the next day on CBS, which showed Jacobson in a bikini, swimming with her children in the Stebic family's backyard swimming pool.
The footage attracted national media attention, and led to Jacobson being fired from her reporting job for NBC.
The Webb's claim that Stebic's neighbor, Tracey Reardon, maliciously videotaped the outing from an upstairs window and gave the tape to CBS reporter Puccinelli, who the family "did not trust."
"At no time" did the family indicate that their meeting with Jacobson was going to be an "adult pool party" or had any purpose of being "social," the suit said.
Puccinelli accused of naming Craig Stebic as a "person of interest" in his wife's disappearance more than a week before authorities did. Despite the fact that Craig was ultimately named a "person of interest," the Webb's claim Puccinelli's reporting was "reckless" and "incorrect."
The suit asks for more than $40,000 in damages from the incident, claiming the media frenzy has caused "extreme mental anguish," "ongoing medical bills," and "severe emotional distress" for the family.
It also says Jacobson's relationship with the family was of no "legitimate concern to the public."
"At no time did [the Stebic, Webb or Jacobson families] authorize videotaping," the suit said, accusing Reardon and CBS employees of invading their privacy and "spying on" them.
Jacobson filed a similar suit against the network in July, claiming the videotape from that day was maliciously edited and the story had destroyed her career.
In a statement following Jacobson's multimillion dollar lawsuit, Channel 2 said, "CBS 2 stands by its reporting. Ms. Jacobson's claim has no merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending ourselves in court."
(stng)