GARMENT WORKERS CENTER v. Superior Court

As a general rule, once a SLAPP motion is filed all discovery proceedings in the action are stayed until the trial court rules on the motion. The trial court, however, may lift the discovery stay “for good cause shown.”

In this petition for a writ of mandate defendants in an action for libel contend the trial court abused its discretion in permitting plaintiffs to conduct discovery on the issue of actual malice prior to the hearing on defendants’ motion to strike plaintiffs’ libel claim as a SLAPP. Defendants contend they should not have been required to shoulder the expensive and time-consuming burden of complying with plaintiffs’ discovery demands until the trial court first determined whether plaintiffs had a reasonable probability of establishing the other elements of a libel action, particularly the making and publishing of a defamatory statement. Plaintiffs contend limited discovery on the issue of actual malice is necessary in order for them to establish a reasonable likelihood of success on their libel cause of action.

We conclude under the facts of this case the trial court abused its discretion in permitting discovery on the issue of actual malice before first…