The following is our summary of the Supreme Court’s actions on petitions for review in civil cases from the Court’s conference on August 16, 2017. The summary includes those civil cases in which (1) review has been granted, (2) review has been denied but one or more justices has voted for review, or (3) the Court has ordered depublished an opinion of the Court of Appeal.
Review Granted
San Diegans for Open Government v. San Diego State University Research Foundation, S242529–Review Granted and Held– August 16, 2017
The Supreme Court granted review and deferred further action pending the disposition of Wilson v. Cable News Network, Inc., S239686, which presents the following issue: in deciding whether an employee’s claims for discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and defamation arise from protected activity for purposes of a special motion to strike (Code of Civ. Proc., § 425.16), what is the relevance of an allegation that the employer acted with a discriminatory or retaliatory motive?
Here, the underlying dispute between the parties concerned defendant’s publication of news articles critical of an attorney. The plaintiff, an entity controlled by that attorney, sued the defendants and alleged violations of statutory prohibitions on self-dealing involving public funds. In a published opinion, San Diegans for Open Government v. San Diego State University Research Foundation (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 76, the Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One, rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the anti-SLAPP statute does not apply, holding that reporting the news is protected speech within the ambit of the anti-SLAPP statute.
Review Denied (with dissenting justices)
None.
Depublished
None.