Bikkina v. Mahadevan

• Decision Date: 09 October 2015
• Docket Number: A143031
• Citation: 193 Cal.Rptr.3d 499,241 Cal.App.4th 70
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Prem BIKKINA, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jagan MAHADEVAN, Defendant and Appellant.

241 Cal.App.4th 70

193 Cal.Rptr.3d 499

Prem BIKKINA, Plaintiff and Respondent

v.Jagan MAHADEVAN, Defendant and Appellant.

A143031

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 4, California.

Filed October 9, 2015

Law Offices of Carleton L. Briggs, Carleton L. Briggs, for Appellant.

Law Offices of Edward C. Casey Jr., Edward C. Casey Jr., Oakland, for Respondent.

RUVOLO, P.J.

I.INTRODUCTION

Appellant Jagan Mahadevan (Mahadevan) appeals from the denial of his special motion to strike pursuant to California's anti–SLAPP statute (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16 )¹ filed in response to respondent Prem Bikkina's (Bikkina) complaint alleging that Mahadevan made false and libelous statements about Bikkina's research. The trial court denied the motion, finding Mahadevan's statements did not arise from protected activity. We agree with the trial court and further conclude that, even if the conduct arose from protected activity, the claims have sufficient merit to survive a motion to strike. Therefore, we affirm.

II.FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Bikkina's Complaint

We begin with the facts alleged in the complaint. In 2007, Bikkina entered a Ph.D. program at the McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Tulsa (University). Mahadevan was his dissertation advisor and supervisor from 2007 to 2010. Bikkina complained that Mahadevan was repeatedly reassigning him to different projects and requested a new advisor, which he was given in May 2010. In March 2011, Bikkina published a scientific paper on carbon sequestration (Paper 1) that Mahadevan believed contained inaccuracies. The dispute over the paper led both Bikkina and Mahadevan to file formal complaints alleging violations of the University's harassment policy. The University found that Bikkina had not violated the policy, but instead that Mahadevan had committed “serious violations.”

In 2011, Bikkina published a second scientific article in a professional journal (Paper 2) and Mahadevan claimed he was a co-author. Bikkina submitted a second formal complaint to the University. The University concluded Mahadevan had no co-authorship rights.

In March 2012, Mahadevan filed a complaint against Bikkina under the University's ethical conduct policy claiming Bikkina had falsified data in Paper 2 and plagiarized Mahadevan's work. In April 2013, Mahadevan filed another complaint with the vice-provost for research stating that Bikkina had engaged in plagiarism and falsified data in his dissertation.

In May 2013, the senior vice-provost for the University found that Mahadevan had violated the University's harassment policies through bad faith efforts to interfere with and undermine Bikkina's research, publications, and reputation. The senior vice-provost found that Bikkina had engaged in no harassment, unethical conduct, plagiarism or academic misconduct.

In June 2013, Bikkina completed his Ph.D. and began working at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Shortly thereafter, Mahadevan contacted one of Bikkina's superiors to inform him that Bikkina had falsified the data in Papers 1 and 2. On August 30, 2013, Mahadevan made a presentation at LBNL and told Bikkina's colleagues that Bikkina had published a paper using false data. Mahadevan also contacted LBNL's research and institutional integrity officer to claim Bikkina had falsified data.

In March 2014, Bikkina filed a complaint for damages against Mahadevan alleging four causes of action: (1) libel per se for Mahadevan's published written statements to the University and LBNL that Bikkina had falsified data and plagiarized Mahadevan's work; (2) negligence for Mahadevan's course of conduct; (3) intentional infliction of emotional distress and; (4) slander per se for Mahadevan's oral statements to University and LBNL employees.

B. Mahadevan's Anti–SLAPP Motion to Strike

Mahadevan filed a special motion to strike Bikkina's complaint pursuant to section 425.16. Mahadevan argued that Bikkina improperly sought to chill public discourse on carbon sequestration and its impacts on global warming. Mahadevan asserted that his statements concerned important public issues and constituted protected speech. He further argued that Bikkina could not prevail on the merits because all his statements were true and fell under the common interest privilege in Civil Code section 47, subdivision (c).

Mahadevan submitted a declaration supporting his motion which set forth his version of the underlying facts. The declaration stated that Bikkina worked under his supervision on research relating to carbon dioxide sequestration. Bikkina's research used contaminated data and did not follow proper procedures. After leaving Mahadevan's research group, Bikkina published Paper 1, which was based upon the contaminated data, specifically relying on a quartz sample contaminated by fluorine deposits.

Mahadevan asserts that Paper 2 contained content that he had originally authored. He claims Paper 2 originally listed him as a co-author but his name had been deleted. He contacted the listed co-author to inform him that Paper 2 was the product of his intellectual efforts.

In 2013, Mahadevan spoke to an “audience of scientists” at LBNL about the contamination of Bikkina's data because they had an interest in the issue and had either used Bikkina's false data or cited to it.

Mahadevan also supported his motion with the declaration of Dr. Winton Cornell, a professor at the University. Cornell stated that he once saw Bikkina using a sample of quartz crystal that appeared to be contaminated, but he had no knowledge as to whether this contaminated sample formed the basis of Bikkina's research papers. He stated he is aware of one scholarly article that raised concerns about Bikkina's research and techniques.

Bikkina filed an opposition to the motion to strike, arguing Mahadevan's statements were not made in a public forum and did not concern matters of public interest. He contended that the motion also failed because his claims had “minimal merit.” He argued Mahadevan's comments were not conditionally privileged, and further that there was evidence the statements were made with malice.

In support of his opposition, Bikkina submitted the declaration of Winona Tanaka, the senior vice provost for the University (the provost). The provost handled the various complaints and investigations related to Mahadevan's allegations. She confirmed Mahadevan complained about Paper 1, disowned any interest in the paper's contents, and demanded that Bikkina correct inaccuracies. Bikkina submitted a formal complaint against Mahadevan alleging that Mahadevan had presented false and wrongful claims about Bikkina's research.

He further alleged that Mahadevan had told him, “Prem, I am going to screw you.”

In 2011, the provost appointed a three-member investigatory committee to investigate the complaints filed by both men. The provost issued a final decision and concluded that Mahadevan had repeatedly violated the University's harassment policy and that these violations were abusive and egregious. The decision listed a series of sanctions against Mahadevan. After reviewing the decision, Mahadevan stated that he would resign from the University, where he had been recently denied tenure, in exchange for an agreement that the provost not finalize the decision regarding his conduct.

After leaving the University, Mahadevan contacted the co-authors of Paper 2 claiming he had co-authorship rights to the paper. The provost reviewed e-mails from Mahadevan to Bikkina's co-author, Dr. Ramgopal Uppaluri, claiming co-authorship rights. The investigatory committee, however, found that Mahadevan had disassociated himself from Bikkina's research, given his permission for Bikkina to use the data, and that Bikkina had been given University approval to publish the research.

Bikkina filed a second formal complaint in response to Mahadevan's allegations about co-authorship rights to Paper 2. The provost sent a letter to Bikkina's co-author, Dr. Uppaluri, stating that Mahadevan had no ownership or authorship rights to any of the data or content of Paper 2. Mahadevan then filed two additional formal complaints in 2012 and 2013 claiming Bikkina had falsified data in Paper 1, plagiarized Mahadevan's work in Paper 2, and committed plagiarism and data falsification in his dissertation. The provost conducted a further investigation and issued a formal memorandum of decision concluding that all of Mahadevan's complaints against Bikkina were “wholly unfounded and spurious.” She found that Mahadevan had disclaimed ownership and disassociated himself from Bikkina's research and relinquished any right to control the research or data. She further found that Mahadevan “has repeatedly violated the Harassment Policy by knowingly and in bad faith making false accusations against Mr. Bikkina regarding Paper # 1 and Paper # 2 and engaging in conduct that is defamatory, retaliatory, demeaning, intimidating, threatening and otherwise harmful to Mr. Bikkina's educational and professional reputation on and off campus.” She further concluded that Mahadevan had violated the University's ethical conduct policy by “making false allegations that were grounded in bad faith and with malicious intent to damage Mr. Bikkina's reputation, research and scholarship on and off campus.” She concluded that Bikkina had not committed plagiarism.

Timothy Kneafsey, a department head at LBNL and Bikkina's supervisor, submitted a declaration stating that Mahadevan appeared at his office without an appointment and told him that Bikkina published a paper using falsified data. The research and institutional integrity officer for LBNL, Meredith Montgomery, was also contacted by Mahadevan who stated that Bikkina had falsified data in a research article. Montgomery reviewed the University's investigation and report and found it dispositive of the issue. Montgomery sent Mahadevan a letter that his claims were unsubstantiated and in bad faith.

Tetsu Tokunaga, a scientist at...