T.R. & B Property v. Lincoln Best Hotel CA2/4

DISCUSSION

I Section 425.16 was enacted to respond to the “disturbing increase in lawsuits brought primarily to chill the valid exercise of constitutional rights of freedom of speech and petition for the redress of grievances.” (§ 425.16, subd. (a).) The Legislature deemed it was in the public interest to “encourage continued participation in matters of public significance, and that this participation should not be chilled through abuse of the judicial process.” (Ibid.) When evaluating a defendant’s anti-SLAPP motion, the court engages in a two- step process. “First, the court decides whether the defendant has made a threshold showing that the challenged cause of action is one arising from protected activity. The moving defendant’s burden is to demonstrate that the act or acts of which the plaintiff complains were taken ‘in furtherance of the [defendant’s] right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue,’ as defined in the statute.” (Equilon Enterprises v. Consumer Cause, Inc. (2002) 29 Cal.4th 53, 67.) Once this threshold has been met, the court determines the probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the…