GENEVA – A lawsuit filed in 2017 against Kevin Ketchum, as an agent or partner of Geneva-based Nexxus Publishing alleging together they engaged in deceptive advertising on their “What’s Happening” Facebook pages, was settled for $30,000, according to court records and the settlement agreement.

Patriot Heating and Cooling Services, Inc., of Elburn, which also has an office in Geneva, had sought more than $250,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees, in the lawsuit.

According to the settlement agreement, without admitting liability or that they owe any money, Nexxus and Ketchum agreed to settle.

Patriot attorney Joshua Feagans said the parties' insurance company paid the $30,000.

Patriot had also alleged in the lawsuit that Ketchum and Nexxus manipulated the content of the "What's Happening" pages to promote their paid advertisers, while deleting posts by followers that endorsed competitors that did not advertise.

Feagans said the settlement agreement, just reached Jan. 21, required Nexxus and Ketchum to alter its pages to reflect the accuracy of the various postings.

“Primarily and most importantly, it required them to alter the description on the ‘What’s Happening’ pages to alert the public that some of the posts and referrals could be between associated or affiliated business partners,” Feagans said. “We cited the recommendations made by the Federal Trade Commission. They are going to use some of what the FTC recommends, like using #adv for advertising.”

Feagans said he cited the Federal Trade Commission recommendations in the lawsuit.

“I think it was a good outcome,” Feagans said of the settlement. “It was what my client wanted, that the relationship between Ketchum and business partners be known.”

The "What's Happening in St. Charles IL" page now states as item 10 under its About This Group description, fulfills the amendment required in the settlement, Feagans said.

“10: Some of the referrals contained on this page are made based upon employment and business relationships, including relationships with the page operators and/or administrators. Any such relationships that exist between the page operators and/or administrators and the business that is being referred should be disclosed. One such method of disclosing this connection is for the referrer/endorser to utilize the hashtags ‘#affiliated’, ‘#employed’, and/or ‘#sponsored’.”

The same clarification appears in the other "What's Happening in" pages for Geneva, Batavia and Elgin.

Voice mail messages seeking comment left for Ketchum and Paul Stukel, owner of Nexxus Publishing were not returned. Nexxus also publishes “Fox Valley Magazine.”

Kane County Judge Kevin Busch filed an order Jan. 21 stating the lawsuit was “dismissed with prejudice pursuant to settlement with the court to retain jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the settlement agreement.”

Court records show Patriot had settled earlier with McNally’s Heating and Cooling Inc., in St. Charles and Alan Herra of Jackson Alan Services, formerly of Elburn, both of which had been named in the lawsuit.