A hearing is set for May 20 regarding the civil lawsuit brought against the building of the Gotion factory in Manteno.

Both sides will present arguments before Kankakee County Circuit Judge Lindsay Parkhurst.

The hearing will decide whether Concerned Citizens of Manteno, Illinois, and Manteno resident Brian Kovaka can file a fourth amended complaint against the Village of Manteno, 333 South Spruce LLC, Gotion, Inc., and Gotion Illinois New Energy Inc.

The lawsuit was originally filed in December 2023 regarding Manteno’s rezoning of the then-proposed lithium battery factory at the former Kmart distribution center at 333 S. Spruce St. in Manteno for Gotion, a Chinese manufacturer.

Attorney Robby Dube for Concerned Citizens of Manteno and Kovaka is asking the judge to add Margaret and Joel Shaykin and Brent Kleinfelder, who reside near the Gotion plant.

A petition was filed on April 15 by Chicago attorney Daria Porta of Polsinelli PC, representing Gotion’s interests. Manteno board attorney Joseph Cainkar represents the village.

According to the petition opposing the fourth amended complaint, Porta and Cainkar do not object to Kovaka being removed.

Kovaka is not being removed from the complaint, Dube argued.

In Dube’s response to the allegations, he said the defendants’ response “contains erroneous arguments that should be rejected by this court.”

Kovaka and his family are facing medical and personal problems that are causing hardship for the family.

“Instead of sympathizing with the Kovaka family, defendants have jumped at the opportunity to try and dismiss the bulk of plaintiffs’ claims on the back of the Kovakas’ misfortune,” Dube argued in his response.

“In doing so, Defendants submit arguments that are equally erroneous and unfounded,” Dube said. “This court should see through this thinly veiled attempt to strike Plaintiffs’ valid claims and push the Gotion project forward. This court should grant Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to File Fourth Amended Complaint and hear the case on its merits.”

As for adding Shaykins and Kleinfelder, Gotion and Manteno argue they do not live within the required 1,200 feet of the plant to be part of the lawsuit. The Shaykins and Kleinfelder also have not alleged a special injury different from that suffered by the community at large, according to the response, and their claims do not relate to the original complaint.

Gotion and Manteno argue that with Kovaka being removed from the complaint, the request to amend the original complaint a fourth time “is necessary to cure an anticipated defect in the pleading - namely that CCM will no longer have standing to bring” the counts listed in the complaint once Kovaka sells his property located near Gotion.

“While Defendants agree that Kovaka’s removal and resulting lack of standing creates a pleading defect, this defect is not cured by the Fourth Amended Complaint wholly fails to put forth a viable cause of action,” Porta argued.