Novartis

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA, Inc. (SHAC USA), was formed to support an international campaign to “expose the abusive treatment of animals” by Huntingdon Life Sciences, a biomedical testing laboratory. Respondent Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc. (formerly known as Chiron Corporation and referred to herein as Chiron), uses Huntingdon Life Sciences in testing some of its products. After numerous Chiron employees were targeted for “home visits” by SHAC USA—terrifying incidents in which persons broke employees’ windows, vandalized their cars, set off ear-piercing alarms in their yards, and left excrement on their doorsteps, as well as other tactics, including the publication of employees’ personal information on the Internet and that of employees’ spouses and children—Chiron filed suit against SHAC USA seeking injunctive relief.

SHAC USA brought a motion to strike under the California anti-SLAPP (anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation) statute (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16) in which it argued that the activities that formed the basis of Chiron’s suit are protected under the anti-SLAPP statute. The trial court…