Defense Motion Only Knocked Out An Injunctive Relief Remedy And One Other Claim Which Had Factual Issues Still Remaining On Non-Stricken Claims.
In Bagish v. Sarraf, Case No. B344027 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Apr. 27, 2026) (unpublished), defendant’s SLAPP motion was granted and denied in part, with the defense knocking out an injunctive relief request and a negligent emotional distress claim. However, that still left slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) claims to be tried and not eliminated by the SLAPP motion. The lower court denied defendant’s request for SLAPP fees. Relying on Mann v. Quality Old Time Service, Inc., 139 Cal.App.4th 328, 340, 345 (2006), the appellate court concluded that defendant did not achieve his primary litigation objective to significantly narrow the litigation. After all, elimination of the injunctive relief request only knocked out a remedy, and there still remained the slander/IIED claims to be adjudicated which carried much of the same discovery/proof as on the negligent emotional distress claim.