Hotel & Restaurant Employees v. ANAHEIM OPERATING

McDANIEL, J.

The action in the trial court was for defamation and brought by the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders Union (Union) against Anaheim Operating, Inc., doing business as the Sheraton-Anaheim Hotel (Hotel) and its employee, Peter Lorusso. Hotel and Lorusso demurred to Union's complaint on the ground that the state court was without jurisdiction to hear the suit. The trial court sustained the demurrer and afforded Union an opportunity to amend. However, Union chose to stand on its complaint. As a consequence, the complaint was dismissed and judgment was entered in favor of Hotel and Lorusso. Union now appeals from that judgment.

Early in 1977, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised election was scheduled for April of that year for the purpose of enabling employees of Hotel to choose an exclusive bargaining agent. Union participated in the preelection campaign, hoping to gather sufficient votes to become the employees' agent. Also, as part of that campaign, Hotel circulated a "Staff Memo," signed by Lorusso, which stated: "In the next [few] weeks before the election we will be giving you `Facts' about Hotel and Restaurants Employees Local…