In an unusual SLAPP, Kathleen Seidel, a New Hampshire blogger on vaccine and neurological issues, was served a subpoena commanding her to appear for deposition and to comply with exceedingly broad document production in a personal injury lawsuit she had written about on her blog.
Read MoreIn November of 2008, a Texas developer sued the author of a book about an eminent domain development agreement he had signed. In addition to naming the book’s author and publisher, a book reviewer and the newspaper that published the book review, the suit also named Law Professor Richard Epstein, who wrote a brief review on the book jacket, lauding the book as a “page turner.”
Read MoreIn perhaps the most well-known SLAPP, Oprah Winfrey was sued in 1996 by Texas cattle ranchers after a show called “Dangerous Food,” in which she invited experts on mad cow disease, and said she wouldn’t eat another hamburger.
Read MoreIn 2006, Jay Leno, NBC and others were sued for defamation by a woman claiming defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress based on statements he made in the show. NBC took advantage of California’s anti-SLAPP motion to have the case dismissed, and fees and costs awarded, with the court holding that no reasonable person could understand Leno’s statements to be factual or defamatory.
Read MoreIn 2001, Idaho company Medinex Systems, Inc. sued fourteen John Does who criticized the company on a Yahoo! message board. Medinex alleged defamation, tortious interference with business relationship and wrongful interference with a prospective economic advantage, and then issued a subpoena to Yahoo! in California seeking the identities of their critics without first proving any illegal actions.
Read MoreIn Louisiana in 2009, the Lake Charles American Press was able to invoke the state’s anti-SLAPP law to dismiss a suit brought against it by a jet company, after the newspaper ran a series of reports that the company had sold contaminated fuel to the military.
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Intellect Art Media, Inc., a Massachusetts-based company that operates a college-level summer program called Swiss Finance Academy, sued Mathew Milewski, a student at Fordham University; Xcentric Ventures, LLC, operators of the website RipoffReport.com; and five anonymous posters for defamation.
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A state senator sued her rival in the U.S. Senate campaign, claiming a Republican senator defamed her with a campaign television commercial that implies the Democrat would support a “Godless” agenda.
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Plaintiffs filed a defamation lawsuit against some known defendants as well as some anonymous John Doe defendants in federal court over statements posted to Complaintsboard.com.
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A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge issued a ruling against a developer who sued a Christiansburg resident and blogger for complaining about a large mound of dirt on one of his properties.
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A Chesterfield, Virginia businessman sued seven county residents for $1.35 million in a defamation suit over their criticism of him involving a proposed sewer district.
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A professor at Bemidji State University wrote a story saying some unflattering things about a local journalist, who didn’t take kindly to the allegations and brought a lawsuit alleging defamation and related torts against a number of defendants, including seeking $50 billion from Google.
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A media company filed a federal lawsuit against a NC woman for defamation, trade libel and “tortious interference with business relationship.
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A Louisiana preacher a gay rights organization and its executive director for defamation after the organization issued an online press release that said he had advocated the murder of gays in a speech he made.
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The owners of five buildings in the Bronx failed to raise a triable issue of fact that tenant organizers interfered with their ability to get mortgages, a state judge ruled in granting summary judgment dismissing the owners' case.
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