Shahid Buttar for Congress Committee v. Hearst Communications, Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SHAHID BUTTAR FOR CONGRESS Case No. 21-cv-05566-EMC COMMITTEE, et al., 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES v. AND COSTS 10 HEARST COMMUNICATIONS, INC., Docket No. 69 11 Defendant. 12 13 Plaintiffs Shahid Buttar and Shahid Buttar for Congress Committee (collectively, “SBCC”) filed suit against Defendant Hearst Communications, Inc. (“Hearst”) for defamation and violation of California’s unfair competition law. Docket No. 46 (“FAC”). SBCC’s claims arise from two stories published in the San Francisco Chronicle in July 2020 reporting on allegations that Mr. Buttar, then a candidate for Speaker Nany Pelosi’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, sexually harassed an acquaintance Elizabeth Croydon several years earlier. The Court dismissed SBCC’s FAC under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and California’s anti-SLAPP statute with prejudice. Docket No. 67. On March 18, 2023, SBCC appealed to the Ninth Circuit. …