Piping Rock Partners, Inc. v. David Lerner Associates, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

The David Lerner Associates (DLA) defendants appeal the district court’s denial of their consolidated anti-SLAPP motions to strike Christopher Germain and Piping Rock’s libel claim, which arose from an online statement posted by former DLA employee George Dobbs (the “Dobbs Post”). The district court denied the motions on the ground that Germain and Piping Rock have shown a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits of their libel claim. See Makaeff v. Trump Univ., LLC, 715 F.3d 254, 261 (9th Cir.2013). This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . See United States ex rel. Newsham v. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., Inc., 190 F.3d 963, 973 (9th Cir.1999). Reviewing de novo, Makaeff, 715 F.3d at 261 , we affirm.

1. Appellants characterize the Dobbs Post as “an anonymous post on a disreputable message board that was disbelieved by the readers of the post.” On this basis, appellants argue the post constitutes non-actionable opinion. See Baker v. L.A. Herald Examiner, 42 Cal.3d 254 , 228 Cal. Rptr. 206 , 721 P.2d 87, 90 (1986). Notwithstanding hyperbole, anonymity, or disrepute, the Dobbs Post contained sufficient provably false statements of fact to…