Tenant Free Speech Rights Don't Bar Landlord's Lease Breach Suit

What Happened: A landlord sued a tenant for failing to install sound mitigation measures at its noisy factory as required by the lease. The tenant asked the court to toss the case under California’s so-called Anti-SLAPP law, which lets courts dismiss lawsuits “arising from” acts in furtherance of protected free speech rights “in connection with a public issue.”  The tenant’s argument : Its email communications with city officials about noise level standards and how to get permits for the required sound mitigation work constituted exercise of free speech on a public issue protected by the Anti-SLAPP law.

Decision: The California court disagreed and let the landlord go forward with its case.

Reasoning: Although the tenant’s email communications “touched upon” a public issue, they weren’t what the landlord was suing about. The landlord’s complaint was that the tenant violated the lease, specifically the obligation to do sound mitigation work and keep noise levels from the factory within city limits. Thus, at the end of the day, this case wasn’t about free speech on public issues; it was simply a commercial dispute over a private lease to which the Anti-SLAPP law didn’t apply.

• Uptown Newport Jamboree, LLC v. Newport Fab, LLC, April 2019