Sanderson

INTRODUCTION

John Sanderson and George Taylor sued Nerium International, LLC (Nerium), and its chief executive officer, Jeff Olson, for defamation and other related claims. Nerium and Olson filed a special motion to strike pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (the anti-SLAPP statute).1 (All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure, unless otherwise noted.) The trial court denied the special motion to strike; we affirm. Nerium and Olson failed to make the required showing on the first prong of the test for a special motion to strike: whether Sanderson and Taylor’s claims against them arise from protected activity. The trial court correctly concluded that while domestic violence is an issue of public concern, a statement that someone had perpetrated domestic violence was not necessarily a matter of public interest, and therefore not covered by the anti-SLAPP statute.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY2

Nerium sells a skin care product known as NeriumAD face cream. Olson is Nerium’s chief executive officer. Sanderson is the chief executive officer of a different company that also sells skin care products. Sanderson and Taylor maintain an…