Jadwin

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc is a Latin phrase “used in logic to describe the fallacy of thinking that a happening which follows another must be its result . . . .” (Webster's New World Dict. (2d College ed. 1989) p. 1113, col. 1.) In other words, the propinquity of two events does not necessarily establish cause and effect. The key word here is “necessarily.” County of Kern (County) argues that its filing of a False Claim Act (FCA; Gov. Code, § 12650 et seq.) against its former employee was not, and is not, a result of the employee’s federal lawsuit against it. 1 At oral argument, County adamantly claimed that the two lawsuits have nothing to do with each other. But, as we shall explain, a trier of fact, i.e., the superior court, factually found that the propinquity of these two lawsuits was not a mere happenstance. Instead, it expressly found that the FCA complaint was filed to harass *68 the employee and that it was frivolous. (§ 12652, subd. (g)(9).) It impliedly found that maintaining the FCA action was caused by the employee’s lawsuit against County.

County “has no appreciation for the trial court’s order which can only be viewed as an adverse factual finding.” (In…