Anti-SLAPP

This suit by one drug company against its competitor for the latter's attempts to derail FDA approval of the plaintiff's drug gave rise to an Anti-SLAPP motion.  The decision holds that the defendant's citizen's petition with the FDA seeking to prevent FDA approval of plaintiff's drug was protected activity under CCP 425.16(e) and that the Noerr-Pennington doctrine shielded defendant from… Read More

Hoffman's recordation of an abstract of judgment against Weeden's property was protected activity under CCP 425.16(e), satisfying his Anti-SLAPP motion's first prong.  The litigation privilege also shielded Hoffman from liability on Weeden's claim for slander of title, and that cause of action was properly stricken.  However, the litigation privilege did not apply to or bar Weeden's claims to quiet title… Read More

Plaintiff introduced sufficient evidence to establish a probability of success on his defamation and false light invasion of privacy claims to overcome defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion.  Plaintiff is a world record holder in a number of computer arcade games.  Defendant facilitates video game competitions and runs a website with leaderboards showing top scorers on the games.  After receiving a complaint from… Read More

Over a dissent, this decision holds that the trial court properly denied Dae's Anti-SLAPP motion to strike Traver's probate petition to declare that Dae had violated a no contest clause by filing an earlier petition challenging Traver's acts as trustee.  Dae's petition was protected conduct, but Traver introduced evidence sufficient to show that he had a probability of success on… Read More

Plaintiff runs two bakery stores in Los Angeles.  It baked a birthday cake for defendant's child.  Defendant, who is a celebrity, objected to some of the icing on the cake, saying it looked like pills.  He published scathing reviews of plaintiff's bakeries on the Internet, leading to plaintiff's losing customers and business profits.  Plaintiff sued for defamation.  This decision holds… Read More

On appeal from a prior order on an Anti-SLAPP motion, the Court of Appeal directed the trial court to grant the motion as to certain paragraphs of one cause of action.  The trial court then granted the defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings, but with leave to amend.  Plaintiff's amended complaint again alleged some of the protected conduct which… Read More

An Anti-SLAPP motion to strike under CCP 425.16 may only be brought against causes of action seeking affirmative relief, not against defensive pleadings such as affirmative defenses.  Like any other affirmative defense, an offset is not subject to an Anti-SLAPP motion to strike. Read More

A statement of economic interests (Form 700) that California public officials must file is a "political work" for purposes of CCP 425.17(d)(2), and thus any claim arising from its creation, dissemination, exhibition, advertisement, or other similar promotion is not subject to CCP 425.17(b) which exempts from CCP 425.16 suits brought in the public interest.  This means that a claim based… Read More

The trial court correctly denied defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion in this qui tam insurance fraud action against a doctor for preparing fraudulent patient medical reports and billing statements in support of insurance claims.  The billing statements and medical reports were prepared in the ordinary course of the doctor's business and not in serious contemplation of lawsuits, so they were not protected… Read More

Though the filming and exhibition of a public television reality show regarding persons aspiring to be models was entitled to protection under the Anti-SLAPP statute (CCP 425.16(e)), the plaintiff, a real, well-known model, presented enough evidence to show a probability of success on her claims for invasion of privacy, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and misappropriation of her… Read More

This decision states that an arbitrator may not consider an Anti-SLAPP motion to strike, but it finds that the arbitrator's error in granting such a motion was harmless.  At the second stage of the Anti-SLAPP analysis, the arbitrator had to consider the merits of the defendant's cross-complaint.  The arbitrator found that the litigation privilege (Civ. Code 47(b)) barred the cross-complaint. … Read More

Hockey is a model whose authorized agent contracted for her to perform a 10-hour day's modeling for Brighton for $3,000 payable on receipt of the agent's invoice.  After modeling as agreed, Hockey sued Brighton, claiming it was her employer and that it violated Lab. Code 201 by not paying her the full amount due at the time her employment ended… Read More

This decision affirms an order denying an Anti-SLAPP motion in this malicious prosecution case as to the plaintiff in the underlying case, but reverses as to that party's attorneys.  The prior action, a CEQA challenge to a project to build a school on property adjoining the underlying plaintiff's horse ranch, lacked probable cause insofar as it alleged noise from the… Read More

Plaintiffs sued claiming they had been sexually molested while minors by a Roman Catholic priest.  They sought to hold the Archdiocese vicariously liable for ratifying the molestation and directly liable for its own negligence in failing to supervise the priest.  The trial court correctly denied the Archdiocese's Anti-SLAPP motion.  The gravamen of the complaint was the priest's sexual molestation and… Read More

The gist of a teacher's FEHA claim for retaliation for filing a complaint with the DFEH was the defendant's adverse employment action, not the protected activity of the investigation it conducted leading up to that action or its later protected action of defending the adverse employment action before a review commission.  Accordingly, the case did not arise from conduct protected… Read More

After firing Towner, an investigator in the County's District Attorney's office, the County sought a writ of mandate to enjoin the County's Civil Service Commission from reviewing the termination.  In support of its writ petition, the County publicly filed confidential reports of its investigation of Towner's conduct, in violation of Gov. Code 832.7, part of the Police Officer's Bill of… Read More

The trial court erred in denying defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion.  Plaintiff's complaint was based on allegedly false statements made in reports posted by plaintiff on the Internet, accusing a Chinese company of defrauding investors by claiming inflated sales based on purchases by intermediaries like plaintiff who then resold the product.  Public postings on the Internet are a public forum for purposes… Read More

The trial court erred in granting defendants' Anti-SLAPP motion to strike this malicious prosecution case.  The evidence adduced on the motion showed that plaintiff had a probability of success in establishing the elements of the malicious prosecution claim.  The dismissal of the underlying action for lack of prosecution was potentially a favorable termination on the merits.  The original plaintiff was… Read More

This decision reverses an order denying an Anti-SLAPP motion by the author of a Facebook post that was later republished by BBC's Vietnamese Service about plaintiff, a self-made and proclaimed billionaire who co-founded a large Vietnamese company and dated a prominent Vietnamese model, thereby making himself a public figure in the Vietnamese community.  The defendant showed that his article was… Read More

Allegedly defamatory emails that Simplified sent Trinity and a co-defendant seeking documents and other information for its later-filed lawsuit were protected activity for purposes of the Anti-SLAPP statute (CCP 425.16(e)).  The emails were also protected by the absolute litigation privilege, so Trinity could not prove a probability of success on the merits.  The trial court properly granted Simplified's Anti-SLAPP motion… Read More