A judge has denied a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by the Hollywood Creative Alliance against the Broadcast Film Critics Association on free-speech grounds, finding that the association made the statements to advance its business.
Prior to the Van Nuys Superior Court suit’s Jan. 29 filing, the association announced that HCA members would no longer be allowed to be association members and that those who were members of both groups would need to prove they had left the HCA if they wanted to keep their association membership.
The association’s actions caused dozens of HCA members to resign after they made “heartfelt” apologies to HCA leadership, the suit states. Judge Eric Harmon heard arguments May 8 on the association’s anti-SLAPP motion, then took the case under submission and issued a final ruling on Tuesday.
“In conclusion, evidence properly adduced by plaintiffs shows not only that the parties were competitors, but also that (the association) made the statements at issue here to advance (its) business,” the judge wrote, adding that the association cannot use the commercial business-speech exemption of the anti-SLAPP law to thwart the HCA’s allegations.
In a sworn statement opposing the anti-SLAPP motion, the HCA’s Scott Menzel says the association’s actions have had a substantial impact on the plaintiff’s organization.
“The departures have been incredibly disruptive to HCA’s work and mission,” Menzel said. “The organization is not wealthy and depends on dues from members to conduct its operations.”
Revenues were less than expected due to the number of members who left, Menzel said.
When the large number of members resigned, HCA had already begun working on its upcoming television awards ceremony and many departed members would have played key roles by participating in nominating committees, according to Menzel.
“Most significantly, (the association) has done damage to HCA’s reputation,” according to Menzel. “While the full extent of the monetary damage this assault has done cannot yet be fully known, it is highly likely to disrupt negotiations for streaming or broadcast of our awards shows and will undoubtedly depress consumer and media interest in many other projects we have worked on, including after shows, interviews and moderator opportunities.”
In addition, remaining members’ reputations for fair and insightful voting will be degraded, Menzel said.
The state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights. In their motion filed April 11, association attorneys maintained that all allegations in the HCA complaint are based solely upon the association’s acts “in furtherance of their First Amendment rights because each is based on a privileged email from the board of directors of (the association) to its members.”
In their court papers, HCA attorneys disputed that the email is protected speech.
“If self-generated publicity converts a dispute among competitors into a public issue, there are no effective limitations to the anti-SLAPP statute,” according to the HCA lawyers’ pleadings. “Even if the email were privileged, HCA will establish that the defendants made false statements in the email with malice.”
The HCA suit alleges that the association has maligned the HCA’s reputation in an attempt to “boycott and steal” HCA members. The suit seeks injunctive relief as well as compensatory and punitive damages. Association co-founder Joey Berlin also is a defendant.
In their anti-SLAPP motion, association lawyers argued that an “indispensable component of the freedom of association is the freedom to identify the people who constitute the association and to limit the association to those people only,” adding, that the composition of a membership “defines the quality and character of the group.”
The association was founded in 1995 and is made up of more than 600 television, radio and online critics, journalists and bloggers.
The HCA was created in 2016 to celebrate and elevate diverse and underrepresented voices in film criticism. It was originally called the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society and later the Hollywood Critics Association before assuming its current name.