Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners Richard Sybert, Lara Cullinane-Smith, and Hazel Mae Pangan, along with Associate Shuying Lin, successfully secured the dismissal of the majority of claims against the firm’s client, a large healthcare trade organization, in a complex antitrust case under the California Cartwright Act in state court in Silicon Valley.
The plaintiff, an assignee of the claims of a bankrupt dental aligner company, alleged that GRSM’s client, along with a former competitor and a second trade organization, conspired to drive the plaintiff out of business. The plaintiff also made claims for unfair competition and unjust enrichment. The plaintiff based all of these claims primarily on GRSM’s client’s filing of petitions with the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission, asking those agencies to regulate the aligner company in accordance with federal law.
GRSM moved to dismiss these claims, noting that any petitions were protected speech under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP statute. The court agreed and dismissed those claims, although the court allowed the plaintiff to amend its complaint to restate its conspiracy allegations based solely on the defendants’ later public advocacy surrounding those petitions. However, it may not be possible to do so. Further, the court agreed with GRSM’s arguments that the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the unfair competition claim, since the plaintiff purportedly acquired the claim from the bankrupt and was not directly injured itself, and that unjust enrichment is not a cause of action under California law. The court dismissed both claims without leave to amend.
This outcome highlights the strength of GRSM’s Antitrust and Commercial Litigation practices, particularly in navigating complex and uncommon state-level antitrust matters while leveraging the California anti-SLAPP statute to safeguard clients’ free speech rights.