California Court of Appeal

In a frozen food manufacturer's suit against its former employees and a community activist for defamation, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional interference with contractual relations, extortion, and unfair competition, arising from a determination by the IRS that 231 of plaintiff's then-current employees had provided invalid social security numbers, trial court's grant of defendant's anti-SLAPP motion as to the unfair competition claim only is affirmed where: 1) although the defendants carried their burden of showing plaintiff's claims arose out of protected activity, plaintiff demonstrated a probability of prevailing on its claims because they are based on a provably false statement of fact; 2) the trial court did not err in refusing to strike plaintiff's remaining causes of action; and 3) defendants failed to demonstrate the trial court's evidentiary rulings amounted to reversible error.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/14/2010
• Published 12/14/2010

Judges

• BEDSWORTH

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Carol A. Sobel, Steven J. Goon