Opinion ID: 2629508
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Nevada's anti-SLAPP statute can be used by private individuals or a government entity to seek dismissal of a SLAPP complaint

Text: John argues that there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the communication between the various school employees and the DCSD were good-faith communications made in furtherance of the right to free speech. Particularly, he argues that his supplemental declaration filed in opposition to the special motion to dismiss establishes that the communications were discriminatory and retaliatory and not made to a government agency. We disagree because John's supplemental declaration did not set forth a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the communications were discriminatory or retaliatory, and Nevada's anti-SLAPP statute applies to school districts. Statutory construction is a question of law that this court reviews de novo. Richardson Constr. v. Clark Cty. Sch. Dist., 123 Nev. 61, 64, 156 P.3d 21, 23 (2007). When interpreting a statute, this court looks to the plain statutory language and gives effect to the Legislature's intent. Id. Looking at the plain language of Nevada's anti-SLAPP statute, there are three classes of petitions protected by the statute. The first two classes include any communication that is truthful or made without knowledge of falsehood and is made for the following reasons: (1) to procure government or electoral action or (2) to address a matter that reasonably concerns the petitioned governmental entity. NRS 41.637(1)-(2). The third protected class includes any written or oral statement that is truthful or made without knowledge of falsehood and directly addresses an issue before a legislative, executive or judicial body, or any other official proceeding authorized by law. NRS 41.637(3). The second class of protected petitions applies to all political subdivisions of Nevada as defined by NRS 41.0305, which includes school districts. NRS 41.637(2). Thus, Nevada's anti-SLAPP statute protects good-faith communications if those communications were truthful or made without knowledge of falsehood and regard a matter of reasonable concern to the school district. Id. Further, employers, like the DCSD, may receive the benefits of Nevada's anti-SLAPP statute based on the reasoning in Raining Data Corp. v. Barrenechea, 175 Cal.App.4th 1363, 97 Cal.Rptr.3d 196 (2009). The Raining Data case arose after an employer, Raining Data, brought an action against its former employee for misappropriation of trade secrets. Id. at 198. The former employee responded by filing a cross-complaint against Raining Data alleging claims arising from the employer's filing of the complaint and communicating with customers and prospective customers. Id. at 198, 200. After the former employee filed his cross-complaint, Raining Data filed a motion to strike the entire cross-complaint under California's anti-SLAPP statute. Id. at 198. The district court granted Raining Data's motion, and the California Court of Appeal affirmed, reasoning that Raining Data made a threshold showing that the former employee's claims arose from a protected activity but the former employee failed to show a probability of success on the merits. Id. at 202-03. We agree with the reasoning set forth in Raining Data and conclude that the DCSD may receive the benefits of Nevada's anti-SLAPP statute if it shows that John's claims arose from protected activity, and John fails to show a genuine issue of material fact.
Here, the DCSD provided the following evidence to support its position that the communications were in furtherance of its right to free speech: (1) exit interview documents, (2) John's training and counseling documents, (3) John's letter of discipline, (4) the Douglas High principal's responsive memorandum regarding John's EEOC complaint, (5) EAP records regarding John's counseling, (6) the DCSD's response to John's EEOC complaint, and (7) the EEOC's finding of a lack of information to establish any violations. Further, the school district provided written evidence that it was unaware of John's religion and his alleged disability. All of these documents are communications to or by the school district in the context of various investigations. Thus, the DCSD provided enough information to shift the burden of production to John. John, however, has not provided any evidence that the communications were untruthful or made with knowledge of falsehood. John submitted a supplemental declaration in opposition to the DCSD's special motion to dismiss. However, the district court determined that this declaration was insufficient to establish a genuine issue of material fact because it merely disagreed in narrative form with the DCSD's credible evidence. We conclude that John's declaration, although procedurally sufficient, failed to set forth specific facts demonstrating a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the communications were untruthful or made with knowledge of their falsehood. NRCP 56(e); Wood v. Safeway, Inc., 121 Nev. 724, 731, 121 P.3d 1026, 1030-31 (2005). Moreover, the DCSD's subsequent investigations supported the veracity of the communications. A report from Ms. Ann Silver, an independent third party that held individual training sessions with John, stated that John acknowledged his unprofessional behavior as it applied to his inappropriate use of the video equipment, the offensiveness of his verbal comments, and the sexual harassment allegations.
John also failed to establish a genuine issue of material fact as it applied to the school district's concern over the matters communicated to it. The matters communicated to the DCSD were of reasonable concern to the district because they addressed the school environment as it applied to staff and students and they impacted the school district's potential legal liability. The DCSD's affidavits, interview documents, and disciplinary documents established that the written and oral statements against John were part of the school district's investigation into his conduct. Since John failed to provide any evidence in his supplemental declaration that the communications were not matters of reasonable concern to the school district, he failed to meet his burden of production. As a result, the district court correctly held that the anti-SLAPP statute applied to the communications, which were good-faith communications in furtherance of the right to free speech as defined by NRS 41.637.