"Professor Pring sees SLAPP-backs as the most effective deterrent to meritless suits that try to silence legitimate political activity. "Hitting people who exercise their rights with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit is turning out to be a mistake--a very big mistake," he said."
In the Kern County case, Jeff Thomson, his father, Jack Thomson, and Ken Wegis retaliated with their own suit after they were SLAPPed with a suit by Boswell that was dismissed. The firm had contended that the farmers' ad, in questioning Boswell's opposition to the canal, had wrongly accused the firm of trying to gain a monopoly on cotton growing in the area. A jury, in the largest SLAPP-back judgment to date, ruled in 1988 that Boswell was liable for $3 million in general damages and $10.5 million in punitive damages. The case is before a state Court of Appeal in Fresno.
Raymond J. Leonardi, an attorney for a group of plumbing and pipe fitters, was sued for libel by Shell Oil Co. after he raised health questions about a plastic pipe it marketed. Laboratory tests showed the pipe contained cancer-causing substances. Shell's suit was dismissed but Leonardi countersued and won a jury award of $175,000 general damages, $22,000 for lawyers' fees and $5 million in punitive damages. The firm appealed the ruling. Last year, the state Supreme Court refused to hear the case, allowing the verdict to stand.
Victor Monia, a Santa Clara County business executive who headed a local environmental group, and several others were sued for $40 million by Parnas Corp., a San Francisco developer, during a controversy over a proposed hillside development in Saratoga. The developer alleged libel in a political flier circulated by the environmentalists that tied the firm to allegedly questionable dealings with a local official. The suit was dismissed, then Monia SLAPPed back, winning a $260,000 damage award against the developer for malicious prosecution. The award was upheld in February by a state Court of Appeal.
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