Young v. Tri-City Healthcare Dist., No. D063980 (Summary)

*Annotation*

Young v. Tri-City Healthcare Dist., No. D063980 (Cal. Ct. App. May 15, 2014)

The California Court of Appeal denied the surgeon’s request for attorney’s fees stemming from the hospital’s anti-SLAPP motion. The surgeon contended that the hospital’s motion was frivolous and for the sole purpose of harassing him. The court held that at the time the motion was brought, the interpretation of the anti-SLAPP statute could have given the hospital and its counsel an objective reasonable belief that the substance of the surgeon’s claims arose from a protected activity; hence it could not be frivolous. As to the surgeon’s allegation that the anti-SLAPP motion was for the sole purpose of harassing him, the court held that the record did not offer any adequate subjective support for this claim.