Moss Bros. Toy, Inc. v. Ruiz

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Plaintiff-appellant Moss Bros. Toy, Inc. (MBT) appealed an order granting defendant-respondent Ernesto Ruiz’s anti-SLAPP motion, or special motion to strike MBT’s entire first amended complaint (FAC) against Ruiz. The FAC alleged MBT was Ruiz’s former employer and that Ruiz breached two March 2010 arbitration agreements with MBT by failing to submit Ruiz’s employment- related claims against MBT to arbitration, and by instead filing a lawsuit for his employment-related claims against MBT’s agent, Moss Bros. Auto Group, Inc. (MBAG). MBT claimed the anti-SLAPP motion was erroneously granted because the FAC was not based on protected activity, but was instead based on Ruiz’s breach of his March 2010 arbitration agreements with MBT. MBT also claimed it demonstrated a probability of prevailing on its claims alleged in the FAC. After review, the Court of Appeal affirmed the order granting the anti-SLAPP motion. In the published portion of its opinion, the Court discussed that the entire FAC was based on protected activity, namely, Ruiz’s act of filing his lawsuit against MBAG for his employment-related claims in case No. CIVDS2107201, even though the FAC was also based on Ruiz’s alleged breach of the 2010 arbitration agreements. In the unpublished portion of this opinion, the Court explained that MBT failed to demonstrate the probability of prevailing on its claims against Ruiz as alleged in the FAC. View "Moss Bros. Toy, Inc. v. Ruiz" on Justia Law