Mc Erlain v. Park Plaza Towers Owners Association et al
Filing
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ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO STRIKE SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH AND FIFTH CAUSES OF ACTION. Signed by Judge Maxine M. Chesney on February 3, 2014. (mmclc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/3/2014)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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PATRICK JOHN MCERLAIN,
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No. C-13-3232 MMC
Plaintiff,
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION TO STRIKE SECOND, THIRD,
FOURTH AND FIFTH CAUSES OF
ACTION
v.
PARK PLAZA TOWERS OWNERS
ASSOCIATION, et al.,
Defendants.
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Before the Court is the “Special Anti-SLAPP Motion to Strike Second, Third, Fourth
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and Fifth Causes of Action of Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint,” filed by defendants on
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October 4, 2013. Plaintiff Patrick John McErlain has filed opposition, to which defendants
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have replied. Having read and considered the papers filed in support of and in opposition
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to the motion, the Court rules as follows.1
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In the operative complaint, the Amended Complaint for Violations of Civil Rights
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(“AC”), plaintiff alleges he is “mentally disabled by reason of a diagnosed bipolar disorder”
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and that he “resides and owns property at the Park Plaza Towers condominium” in
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Burlingame, California. (See AC ¶¶ 1, 8.)2 According to plaintiff, defendants “have
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By order filed January 22, 2014, the Court took the matter under submission.
In a declaration submitted in support of his opposition, plaintiff states he lives in a
unit owned by his mother and also owns a separate unit rented to a tenant. (See McErlain
Decl. ¶ 2.)
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engaged in a coordinated effort to deprive him of his civil rights and his right to enjoy and
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live in his home.” (See AC ¶ 1.) In particular, plaintiff alleges, defendants have engaged in
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a “conspiracy and actions designed to oust [p]laintiff from his residence because of his
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disability.” (See AC ¶ 2.) In his First, Second, and Third Causes of Action, plaintiff alleges
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defendants’ conduct constitutes disability discrimination in violation of, respectively,
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(1) the Federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604, (2) the Fair Employment and Housing
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Act, California Government Code §§ 12900-12996, and (3) the Unruh Civil Rights Act,
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California Civil Code § 51; additionally, in his Fifth Cause of Action, plaintiff alleges such
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conduct constitutes negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and, in his
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Fourth Cause of Action, titled “Defamation,” plaintiff alleges defendants have made false
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statements about him to other residents of the Park Plaza Towers. (See AC ¶¶ 27, 37, 40,
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55-56.)
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By the instant motion, defendants seek an order striking plaintiff’s state law claims,
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specifically, the Second through Fifth Causes of Action, pursuant to § 425.16 of the
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California Civil Code. Under § 425.16, “[a] cause of action against a person arising from
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any act of that person in furtherance of the person’s right of petition or free speech under
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the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public
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issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the
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plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the claims.”
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See Cal. Civil Code § 425.16(b)(1).
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The first step in ruling on a motion to strike under § 425.16 is to determine whether
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the moving defendant has made a “threshold showing” that “the act or acts of which the
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plaintiff complains were taken in furtherance of the defendant’s right of petition or free
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speech.” See Equilon Enterprises, LLC v. Consumer Cause, Inc., 29 Cal. 4th 53, 67
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(2002) (internal quotation, alteration, and citation omitted). In particular, the defendant
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must show “the act which forms the basis for the plaintiff’s cause of action” is “an act in
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furtherance of the right of petition or free speech.” See id. at 66 (internal quotation and
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citation omitted).
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Here, defendants’ motion relies on three acts, specifically, (1) certain of the
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defendants’ having applied for and obtained restraining orders against plaintiff,
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(2) defendant Park Plaza Towers Owners Association’s having filed against plaintiff a
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lawsuit seeking an order enjoining plaintiff from living at the Park Plaza Towers, and (3)
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defendant Julie Robles’ having contacted the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office about
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conduct by plaintiff she believed to be criminal in nature.
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With respect to the latter two of the above-identified acts, the Court finds defendants
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have failed to meet their burden, because the AC includes no allegations concerning the
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association’s lawsuit or Julie Robles’s contacts with the District Attorney, i.e., those acts
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are not matters of which plaintiff “complains” in the AC. See Equilon Enterprises, 29 Cal.
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4th at 67; see also City of Cotati v. Cashman, 29 Cal. 4th 69, 76-81 (2002) (holding “the
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mere fact an action was filed after protected activity took place does not mean it arose from
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that activity”; rejecting defendant’s argument that plaintiff’s complaint “arose” from
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defendant’s having previously filed lawsuit, where plaintiff’s complaint “contain[ed] no
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reference to the [defendant’s] action”).
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With respect to the first of the above-identified acts, the AC does expressly refer to
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some of the defendants’ seeking and obtaining restraining orders (see AC ¶ 18), which
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conduct falls within the right to petition, see Ludwig v. Superior Court, 37 Cal. App. 4th 8,
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seeking administrative action”). A defendant, however, does not meet its burden to
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establish the plaintiff’s claims arise from protected activity “simply because the complaint
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contains some references to speech or petitioning activity”; rather, the defendant must
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show the “protected speech” is the “gravamen or principal thrust of the claims asserted.”
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See Martinez v. Metabolife Int’l, Inc., 113 Cal. App. 4th 181, 188 (2004).
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In applying this principal when considering whether complaints alleging
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discrimination arise from protected activity, the California Court of Appeal has focused on
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the nature of the challenged adverse action, rather than on the fact that the defendant may
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have, at least in part, accomplished the challenged adverse action by engaging in
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protected activity. In Department of Fair Employment & Housing v. 1105 Alta Loma Road
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Apartments, LLC, 154 Cal. App. 4th 1273 (2007), for example, the complaint alleged that a
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landlord had served an eviction notice on an assertedly disabled tenant, declined to
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provide her an extension of time to relocate and, instead, instituted “multiple eviction
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proceedings.” See id. at 1284. The Court of Appeal found the complaint did not arise from
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protected activity because the “gravamen of [plaintiff’s] action was one for disability
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discrimination, and was not an attack on any act [the landlord] committed during the rental
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property removal process or during the eviction process itself.” See id. Rather, the Court
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of Appeal found, the “filing of unlawful detainer actions constituted [plaintiff’s] evidence of
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[the landlord’s] alleged disability discrimination,” which in the subject case was a
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discriminatory failure to extend the tenancy. See id. at 1284-85 (emphasis in original).
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Similarly, in Martin v. Inland Empire Utilities Agency, 198 Cal. App. 4th 611 (2011),
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the plaintiff, a public agency employee alleging racial discrimination and retaliation, brought
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an action challenging his demotion. Although the plaintiff alleged that his supervisor had
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successfully advocated before the agency’s board in support of the plaintiff’s demotion, the
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Court of Appeal found the complaint “[did] not arise from any purported exercise of
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defendants’ privileged government acts” and was “not an attack on [plaintiff’s supervisor] or
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the board for their evaluations of plaintiff’s performance as an employee”; rather, the Court
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of Appeal reasoned, “the pleadings establish[ed] that the gravamen of plaintiff’s action
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against defendants was one of racial and retaliatory discrimination.” See id. at 624-25.
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Here, plaintiff argues, and the Court agrees, that the gravamen or principal thrust of
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the claims asserted is not a challenge to defendants’ having sought and obtained
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restraining orders. Rather, the gravamen of the claims is that defendants, because of a
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discriminatory animus based on plaintiff’s disability, have attempted to constructively evict
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plaintiff from the Park Plaza Towers (see AC ¶¶ 1, 15, 16, 22, 25), by engaging in
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harassing conduct at the Park Plaza Towers (see, e.g., AC ¶ 29 (alleging defendants have
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defaced documents plaintiff posted in common areas); AC ¶ 30 (alleging defendants have
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falsely accused plaintiff of allowing his dog to defecate in common areas, while “allow[ing]”
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other residents’ pets to engage in that behavior); AC ¶ 31 (alleging male resident “exposed
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himself” to plaintiff in common area), AC ¶ 32 (alleging female residents have made
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“obscene gestures” to plaintiff); AC ¶ 34 (alleging resident was permitted to install camera
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directly aimed at plaintiff’s parking space); AC ¶ 37 (alleging defendants have falsely
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accused plaintiff of tampering with mail).) Although, as was the eviction notice in 1105 Alta
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Loma Road Apartments, the applications for restraining orders may constitute evidence of
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defendants’ efforts to cause a constructive eviction, the AC cannot fairly be characterized
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as a challenge to those applications. See 1105 Alta Loma Road Apartments, 154 Cal. App.
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4th at 1284-85; see also Kelly v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 2009 WL 3388379, *1, *3 (S.D. Cal.
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October 20, 2009) (holding, where disabled plaintiff alleged “pattern of discrimination
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related to parking access barriers,” gravamen of claims was “failure to provide accessible
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parking”; finding plaintiff’s additional allegation that defendants had employed “attorneys to
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engage in protracted litigation . . . to avoid ADA compliance” was “incidental to the principle
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thrust of [p]laintiff’s claim”).
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Accordingly, defendants’ motion is hereby DENIED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: February 3, 2014
MAXINE M. CHESNEY
United States District Judge
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