The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a public university could not use the anti-SLAPP law to attack a discrimination lawsuit filed by a professor contesting a decision to deny him tenure. The ruling will put an end to government agencies invoking anti-SLAPP to put down lawsuits over government decisions. (California Anti-SLAPP Project, May 5, 2017, by Mark Goldowitz)
The court ruled that protected speech at the root of the lawsuit may not be tangential to the main action. “[A] claim is not subject to a motion to strike simply because it contests an action or decision that was arrived at following speech or petitioning activity, or that was thereafter communicated by means of speech or petitioning activity. Rather, a claim may be struck only if the speech or petitioning activity itself is the wrong complained of, and not just evidence of liability or a step leading to some different act for which liability is asserted,” wrote Judge Kathryn Werdegar.(Metropolitan News-Enterprise, May 5, 2017, by a MetNews Staff Writer)