Hawran

Plaintiff and appellant Paul W. Hawran filed a lawsuit against defendants and appellants Sequenom, Inc. (Sequenom), and Sequenom directors Harry Hixson, Jr., Richard Lemer, and Ronald Lindsay, stemming from representations made in a widely disseminated press release concerning Sequenom’s internal investigation into its handling of certain research and development test data and results, which issued on the same day that defendants filed a legally required disclosure of information to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The trial court granted in part defendants’ special motion to strike Hawran’s first amended complaint as a strategic lawsuit against public participation under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (commonly known as the anti-SLAPP statute), 1 in which defendants unsuccessfully asserted, among other things, the press release was *263 absolutely privileged by the official proceeding and fair reporting privileges (Civ. Code, § 47, subds. (b), (d)). The court left standing Hawran’s causes of action against all of the defendants for defamation, invasion of privacy, and unfair business practices under the unfair competition law (UCL; Bus.…