Rall v. Tribune 365, LLC
Decision Date | 18 December 2019 |
Docket Number | B284566 |
Citation | 43 Cal.App.5th 638,256 Cal.Rptr.3d 775 |
Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Parties | Frederick Theodore RALL III, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. TRIBUNE 365, LLC, et al., Defendants and Respondents. |
Roger A. Lowenstein ; Jeff Lewis Law, Jeffrey Lewis, Rolling Hills Estates, and Sean C. Rotstan, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Davis Wright Tremaine, Kelli L. Sager, Rochelle Wilcox, Dan Laidman, Diana Palacios, Los Angeles; Jeff Glasser, Los Angeles Times Communications LLC for Defendants and Respondents.
Jassy Vick Carolan, Jean-Paul Jassy, Los Angeles; Nikki Moore and David Snyder, Yorba Linda, for California News Publishers Association and First Amendment Coalition as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents.
Plaintiff Frederick Theodore Rall III, a political cartoonist and blogger, sued Los Angeles Times Communications LLC (The Times) after it published a "note to readers" and a later more detailed report questioning the accuracy of a blog post plaintiff wrote for The Times. The Times told its readers that it had serious questions about the accuracy of the blog post; that the piece should not have been published; and that plaintiff’s future work would not appear in The Times. Plaintiff sued The Times, related entities, and several individual defendants, alleging causes of action for defamation and for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, among other claims.
All defendants filed anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) motions to strike plaintiff’s complaint ( Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16 ). The trial court granted the motions. In our original published opinion filed January 17, 2019, we affirmed the trial court’s orders. Plaintiff filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court granted review and deferred further consideration pending its disposition in Wilson v. Cable News Network, Inc. (2019) 7 Cal.5th 871, 249 Cal.Rptr.3d 569, 444 P.3d 706 ( Wilson ).
After the issuance of its decision in Wilson , the Supreme Court, by order dated September 25, 2019, transferred the matter to this court for reconsideration in light of Wilson . Having done so, we again affirm the trial court’s orders.
We summarize the facts, and then describe the moving and opposition papers. We will elaborate on the facts as necessary in our discussion of the legal issues.
Plaintiff is a freelance editorial cartoonist who lives in New York, and is "one of the most widely syndicated cartoonists in the United States." He is the author of 19 books, including a New York Times bestselling comics biography. Between 2009 and 2015, his cartoons were drawn exclusively for The Times, but after his work was published in The Times, he was free to publish it elsewhere. Beginning in 2013, plaintiff also wrote blog posts for publication in conjunction with his cartoons. Plaintiff drew about 300 cartoons and wrote about 150 blog posts for the Times. As of 2013, he was paid $200 for each cartoon and $100 for each blog post. He drew numerous cartoons criticizing the police in general, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in particular, and then-LAPD Chief Charles Beck specifically.
In May 2015, the LAPD was enforcing the city’s laws against jaywalking, and The Times reported on the effects of costly jaywalking fines on poor and working class Angelenos. After that report, plaintiff submitted and The Times published a cartoon mocking the LAPD for its jaywalking policy ("LAPD’s Crosswalk Crackdown; Don’t Police Have Something Better to Do?"), along with a May 11, 2015 blog post that described plaintiff’s own arrest for jaywalking in 2001.
In the blog post, plaintiff wrote that he had crossed the street properly ("I was innocent of even jaywalking") when a motorcycle officer Plaintiff’s blog also stated he had filed a formal complaint with the LAPD, and when he called a few months later, he was told the complaint had been dismissed, and "[t]hey had never notified me."
On July 28, 2015, The Times published, in its opinion section, an "Editor’s Note[:] A note to readers." The note to readers described plaintiff’s May 11, 2015 blog post, and then described records that the LAPD provided to The Times about the incident plaintiff had recounted in his blog post. These included the complaint plaintiff filed at the time, and "[a]n audiotape of the encounter recorded by the police officer."
The note to readers stated the audiotape The note to readers continued:
The note to readers concluded:
On August 19, 2015, in response to questions from readers, The Times published a piece that provided "a detailed look at the matter by Times editors" (the Times report). After describing the blog post and its note to readers, the Times report stated that plaintiff had "complained that The Times acted unjustly, based on flawed evidence," and
The Times report recounted the evidence The Times examined, and makes these principal points.
Plaintiff’s original complaint to the LAPD, "written days after the jaywalking stop, when the encounter was fresh in his mind," "accused the officer of rudeness but not of any physical abuse."1 "In published accounts years later, [plaintiff] added allegations that the officer handcuffed and manhandled him, that a crowd of two dozen onlookers shouted in protest at the mistreatment and that a second officer arrived and ordered his colleague to let [plaintiff] go."2
The Times report recounted that after plaintiff’s May 11, 2015 blog post, "the LAPD contacted The Times to challenge [plaintiff’s] account." The LAPD "had investigated [plaintiff’s] complaint in January 2002," and provided The Times with plaintiff’s letter of complaint about Officer Willie Durr and other documents. These included as well as a second recording made by Sgt. Kilby
The Times report describes Officer Durr’s recording. It was ...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Employment Law Case Notes
...disability.Defamation and Wrongful Termination Claims Against the Los Angeles Times Were Properly Dismissed Rall v. Tribune 365, LLC, 43 Cal. App. 5th 638 (2019)Frederick Theodore Rall III, a political cartoonist and blogger, sued the Los Angeles Times after it published a "note to readers"......