Following Rivero v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 913, this decision holds that a letter from a Cal. Fire supervisor to a Ukiah Fire Dept. supervisor saying that Baughn, then a Ukiah employee, should not be assigned any duty that brought him on Cal. Fire premises was not protected speech under the Anti-SLAPP statute. The letter did not address any on-going controversy, and Baughn had not been the subject of any prior public interest. So Baughn could sue Cal. Fire for breaching the settlement agreement under which he voluntarily resigned rather than face charges he had sexually assaulted a woman fire fighter.
A letter from a state-level fire department supervisor to a county-level fire supervisor asking that plaintiff not be assigned any duty that brought him on state fire department premises was not protected speech under the Anti-SLAPP statute, and in fact it breached a settlement agreement under which plaintiff had voluntarily resigned rather than face charges of sexual assault.