Park

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Sungho Park sued his former employer, defendant Board of Trustees of the California State University (CSU), alleging that CSU discriminated against him based on his national origin when it denied his application for a tenured faculty position and consequently terminated him. Park’s complaint sought damages and an injunction awarding him a tenured position. CSU moved to strike the complaint under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, the anti-SLAPP statute.1 The trial court denied the motion, concluding that Park’s claims did not arise from CSU’s communicative conduct related to the tenure review process, but rather from its allegedly discriminatory denial of tenure. Under the circumstances presented here, we conclude the gravamen of the complaint arises from protected activity and therefore reverse and remand with directions to the trial court to determine whether Park demonstrated a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits of his claims.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Park’s Complaint Park filed a verified complaint on May 27, 2014 alleging two causes of action against CSU for discrimination based on national origin and failure to…