Court Opinion

ID: 9746497
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:19:05.768638+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:13.921941
License: Public Domain

WOODS, J., Dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. It appears to this dissenting justice that the majority opinion is founded on a misplaced premise. The analysis and conclusion set forth in the majority opinion is that the City of Los Angeles was in actuality entitled to proceed only under the workplace violence statute found in section 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure in filing its three petitions in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The City of Los Angeles on the other hand has strenuously argued throughout that it was also proceeding on behalf of the people of Los Angeles County as a public prosecutor and was thereby entitled to the exemption contained in Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 thus undercutting the probability that the Animal Defense League (League) would prevail on its SLAPP motion (strategic lawsuit against public participation). I interpret the record as presenting a hybrid situation in which the City of Los Angeles (City) was acting in a dual capacity, i.e., employer and prosecutor on behalf of the people. The majority, on the other hand, rather than recognize the hybrid nature of this *629case, proceeds to employ an analysis which leads to the conclusion that the City’s two roles in this instance are mutually exclusive and in finality the majority eliminates the role of the City as prosecutor. I find this conclusion not well taken in light of the record in this case.
A fair summary of the positions espoused by the League and the City is as follows: Preliminarily, Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (d) provides “This section shall not apply to any enforcement action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney, acting as a public prosecutor.” (Italics added.) Without citation to any persuasive authority, the League maintains that the workplace violence petitions of the City are mere efforts by an employer to protect its employees and have no relevance to that portion of Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (d) wherein a city attorney is acting as a public prosecutor. The City maintains on the other hand that it is acting not only for employees, Sharon Morris and David Diliberto, but in the process is acting on behalf of persons who may become similarly situated through the threats of the League “to continue to attack employee’s home, leading persons wearing masks and hooded clothin[g] to employee’s home on a continuous basis,” as alleged by the City in all three of its workplace violence petitions. It seems to this dissenting justice that the City in essence is saying that the natural fallout from its activities on behalf of its employees is to protect the general citizenry of the City as a prosecutor. The City cites Penal Code section 71 as an example of prosecutorial efforts being expended on behalf of the general public in this instance. Penal Code section 71 states in relevant part: “Every person who, with intent to cause, attempts to cause, or causes, any officer or employee of any public or private education institution or any public officer or employee to do, or refrain from doing, any act in the performance of his duties, by means of a threat, directly communicated to such person, to inflict an unlawful injury upon any person or property, and it reasonably appears to the recipient of the threat that such threat could be carried out, is guilty of a public offense ...”
I have not located any California decision which addresses a hybrid situation as presented in this instance. The legislative history copiously provided in the majority opinion does not contain any indication that the Legislature anticipated that the exemption contained in Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (d) would not apply in a situation where a public prosecutorial agency is acting on behalf of its employees and at the same time on behalf of persons who may become similarly situated.1
*630I find the majority opinion to be miscast for what this dissenting justice discerns is an attempt to force a square peg into a round hole. If the majority were to find that this is indeed a hybrid situation in which the City is acting in a dual capacity, as heretofore maintained in this dissent, I opine that logically the majority should conclude that treating the case exclusively as one of an employer trying to protect its employees against workplace violence only is on infirm ground.
If I were in the majority, I would affirm the judgment of the trial court in its entirety and award attorneys’ fees and costs on appeal to respondent City of Los Angeles.
A petition for a rehearing was denied January 30, 2006, and the opinion was modified to read as printed above. Respondent’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied April 12, 2006, S141292. Werdegar, J., did not participate therein. Baxter, J., was of the opinion that the petition should be granted.

I wish to extend my appreciation to the majority for its assistance in attempting to reach a proper disposition of this troubling appeal by citing the admonition of our Supreme Court in Jarrow Formulas, Inc. v. LaMarche (2003) 31 Cal.4th 728, 735 [3 Cal.Rptr.3d 636, 74 P.3d 737] *630that “the Legislature clearly knows how to create an exemption from the anti-SLAPP statute when it wishes to do so.” I also appreciate the conclusion drawn by the majority from the language in Jarrow Formulas, Inc. that courts are to respect the language of section 425.16 and that exceptions to the statute’s broad reach must not be lightly implied. In response, this dissenting justice has not intended to take the admonition of our high court lightly, but the facts of Jarrow Formulas, Inc. are so far removed from the case at hand as to constitute dictum in its application in this instance, albeit dictum from our high court is entitled to great weight and I certainly treat it in such a manner. I’m still left with the opinion that neither the Legislature nor any case law has addressed the hybrid situation in this instance. Accordingly, I again express my appreciation to the majority, but reiterate my dissent.