Legal Memos

Bonni v. St. Joseph Health System (2022) 89 Cal.App.5th 288. This is a SLAPP case. There were multiple distinct retaliation claims found within a retaliation cause of action, and the Court said it was necessary to scrutinize each of those claims separately in light of the anti-SLAPP motion. The SLAPP motion had to be denied as to claims that did not arise from protected activity, and for those that did arise from protected activity, the physician plaintiff failed to show a probability of prevailing on claims that included peer review proceedings, and reports made as a consequence of those proceedings and settlement negotiations, the latter due to the litigation privilege which applied to bar those claims. This SLAPP motion should be granted as to claims arising from other protected activity.

Li v. Gin (2022) 83 Cal.App.5th 581. This is another SLAPP action involving a motion to strike a cross-complaint in a dispute involving a nonprofit association. The Court held that the filing of the Association’s application for tax exempt status qualified as a protected activity for SLAPP purposes, as an official proceeding. However, the filing of articles of incorporation, the statement of information, any Franchise Tax Board application for state tax exempt status did not qualify for SLAPP protection because the documents involved there did not involve discretionary actions by any agency.

/lkb

Related Attorney(s):
Gregory L. McCoy