Timothy W. v. Julie W.
| Decision Date | 26 October 2022 |
| Docket Number | G059429 |
| Citation | 85 Cal.App.5th 648,301 Cal.Rptr.3d 294 |
| Parties | TIMOTHY W., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. JULIE W., Defendant and Appellant; Ronnie Dean Echavarria Sr., Defendant and Respondent. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The Law Office of Douglas S. Honig and Douglas S. Honig, Santa Ana, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Smith LC, Stephanie P. Alexander and John S. Clifford, Irvine, for Defendant and Appellant.
Ropers Majeski, German Ariel Marcucci and Terry Anastassiou, San Francisco, for Defendant and Respondent.
* * * This appeal and cross-appeal involves a couple who were undergoing dissolution proceedings, Timothy W. and Julie W. (Timothy and Julie, respectively). The underlying dispute in the case before us relates to Julie's disclosure of certain facts about Timothy's past (the sensitive information) that Julie revealed to her codefendant and private investigator, Ronnie Dean Echavarria, Sr. (Echavarria), in connection with the dissolution case. Echavarria revealed the sensitive information to at least one other person, which resulted in several other individuals learning the information. Timothy filed a civil case against Julie and Echavarria (defendants), alleging 12 separate causes of action (although many of them were duplicative or not properly pleaded as separate claims). Defendants filed motions pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (the anti-SLAPP statute).1 The trial court granted the motions as to 10 of the 12 causes of action, all based in tort, and denied the motion as to two contract-based claims. Timothy now appeals, arguing the court erred by granting the motion. Julie cross-appeals, arguing the remaining two causes of action should also have been dismissed.
We conclude that Timothy's claims directly arose from the dissolution case and that all of the claims are barred by the litigation privilege. His contract claims are barred on several additional grounds. Accordingly, we find that the trial court properly granted defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion as to the tort claims and incorrectly denied it as to the two breach of contract claims. We therefore affirm the court's order in part and reverse in part.
Timothy and Julie were married in 1995. According to Julie, Timothy had a gambling problem and lost significant amounts of money by participating in illegal sports betting. Sometime after their marriage, based on an alleged promise to keep the disclosure confidential in perpetuity, Timothy disclosed the sensitive information to Julie.2 Timothy's briefing refers to this promise as a "contract." Later, according to Julie, she believed Timothy disclosed the sensitive information as a way to excuse his gambling losses. In 2009, the FBI visited their home and spoke with Timothy. Timothy told Julie he was questioned about sports betting by a friend of his. Julie did not believe this, and thought they were there asking Timothy about his own gambling, and potentially, an incident of financial wrongdoing related to the sensitive information.
In June 2018, Timothy filed for divorce, and the couple apparently separated. By October, Timothy was romantically seeing a woman named Ashley K. (Ashley). Ashley was previously married to Chris K. (Chris) and had been legally separated from him since April 2018. Ashley and Chris had a two-year-old daughter. Timothy alleged that Julie's neighbors saw Timothy and Ashley at a concert together in October and told Julie about it.
A few days later, Julie hired Echavarria, a former police detective, for private investigation services. According to Julie, she hired Echavarria, in part, to find out why the FBI had visited their home in 2009 with respect to the financial wrongdoing related to the sensitive information. She also believed Timothy was hiding community assets.
Julie also disclosed the sensitive information to Echavarria and made numerous unflattering statements about Timothy's demeanor and temper, including that he was potentially dangerous to children.
In January 2019, Echavarria disclosed the sensitive information to Chris, who disclosed it to Ashley, and allegedly stated that Timothy was a danger to their daughter. Chris then disclosed the information to Ashley's uncle, who disclosed it to his girlfriend. According to Julie, she did not tell Echavarria to share the sensitive information with Chris, although Echavarria testified later that Julie told him Chris "should know" the information. The sensitive information was also disclosed to Julie's divorce attorney, Angel Camino. In sum, Julie disclosed the sensitive information herself to Echavarria and Camino. Echavarria's disclosure to Chris resulted in three other people—Ashley, her uncle, and the uncle's girlfriend. Therefore, a total of six people learned the sensitive information as the result of Julie's disclosures. There is no indication the information has gone beyond that group.
In July 2019, Timothy filed a request for a domestic violence restraining order against Julie, on the grounds that Julie had "been spreading information about me, including false accusations, to ... third parties with the hope that it will damage me in some way." Julie's opposition set forth numerous incidences of abuse during the marriage and stated that she was afraid for her life and that Timothy had falsely reported to the police that she was a suicide risk. The opposition also discussed a loud verbal altercation between Timothy and Chris that had taken place during a custody exchange between Ashley and Chris. The request was ultimately resolved through a stipulated order in which Julie agreed not to disclose or discuss the sensitive information with anyone except her attorneys.
In October 2019, while the dissolution case was pending, Timothy filed the instant civil case against defendants. His first amended complaint alleged 12 causes of action: (1) Breach of Oral Contract; (2) Breach of Oral Contract (Specific Performance); (3) Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; (4) Breach of Fiduciary Duty; (5) Breach of Obligation of Confidential Relationship and Communications; (6) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress; (7) Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress; (8) Negligence; (9) Gross Negligence; (10) Invasion of Privacy (Including Public Disclosure of Private Facts); (11) Defamation; and (12) Injunctive Relief (Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, And Permanent Injunction). Echavarria was named in all claims except for breach of oral contract and "breach of obligation of confidential relationship and communications." (Boldfacing & capitalization omitted.)
During the pendency of the case, Timothy filed repeated requests to seal all or part of the record, both ex parte and through noticed motions. Julie opposed. In January 2020, the court denied the motion to seal the entire court file, but granted the motion to seal as to certain specified documents. That order stated: "The court finds that Plaintiff met his burden under CRC rule 2.550(c) to establish the five factors necessary to seal the record." As the matter progressed, the court granted other requests to seal certain documents.
In November 2019, defendants filed the instant anti-SLAPP motions, seeking to dismiss some or all of Timothy's first amended complaint. Timothy opposed, and defendants filed their individual replies. On July 27, 2020, the court granted Julie's motion as to the third through twelfth causes of action, leaving only the two breach of contract claims. As to Echavarria, the court granted his motion in its entirety. The court concluded the fourth through twelfth causes of action, which were based in tort, were barred by the litigation privilege, which also precluded the third cause of action for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The court's analysis of the breach of contract claims in its written order was limited to finding those claims were not barred by litigation privilege.
Timothy filed a petition for a writ of mandate, which was denied. Julie filed a motion for and was granted attorney fees of $88,561.25 as prevailing party on the anti-SLAPP motion. Echavarria was granted $115,060 in attorney fees. Those orders are the subject of a related appeal.
The instant appeal and cross-appeal address the merits of the anti-SLAPP motion.
Timothy moves to seal both the briefs and the record on appeal and submitted both to this court conditionally under seal with redacted documents available to the public. The court may order that a record be filed under seal only if it finds facts that establish: 1) there exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record; 2) the overriding interest supports sealing the record; 3) a substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; 4) the proposed sealing is narrowly tailored; and 5) no less restrictive means exist to achieve the overriding interest. ( Cal. Rules of Court, rule 2.550(d) ; see NBC Subsidiary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1178, 86 Cal.Rptr.2d 778, 980 P.2d 337.) We must weigh the competing interests at hand, which is difficult without describing the sensitive information. We have reviewed those interests, and we find good cause exists to grant the motions to seal.
Because the appeal and cross-appeal address the same legal issues for different causes of action, we shall address them together as much as is practical. The anti-SLAPP statute states: "A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech under the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court...
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