DeHart v. Tofte

Under ORS 31.150, a defendant can succeed on an anti-SLAPP motion to strike after demonstrating that the defendant’s actions were in furtherance of free speech that related to a matter of public interest and that the plaintiffs had not provided evidence to support a prima facie case for their claim.

Defendants appealed the denial of their motions to strike after Plaintiffs brought an anti-doxing case against Defendants for publishing Plaintiffs’ employers’ information in a Facebook group. Defendants assigned error to the denial of their motions. Defendants argued that their posts were related to an issue of public interest and Plaintiffs had not established a prima facie case on their anti-doxing claims. Plaintiffs argued that their employers’ information did serve a public interest and that they had established a prima facie case because they had been harassed due to the posts. Under ORS 31.150, a defendant can succeed on an anti-SLAPP motion to strike after demonstrating that the defendant’s actions were in furtherance of free speech that related to a matter of public interest and that the plaintiffs had not provided evidence to support a prima facie case for their claim. The Court reasoned that because Plaintiffs were elected school board officials, had already disclosed their employer information publicly prior to the Defendants’ posts, and the only information that was shared was about their employers, the posts were related to a public interest and Plaintiffs did not establish a prima facie case that the posts caused severe emotional distress. Reversed and remanded.