Greka Integrated, Inc. v. Lowrey, 133 Cal. App. 4th 1572 (2005)

Greka Integrated sued its former safety manager, Gary Lowrey, for breach of a non-disclosure agreement and conversion associated with Lowrey’s taking emails and other documents that belonged to the company and for disclosing those documents to third parties, including Greka’s competitors. Lowrey contended that he discovered many violations of worker safety and environmental regulations while he was employed at Greka and that the company refused to correct these conditions, which caused Lowrey to experience debilitating stress. The trial court granted Lowrey’s anti-SLAPP motion to strike Greka’s complaint. The Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal of Greka’s lawsuit on the ground that Lowrey had met his burden of showing that the complaint arose from protected speech (deposition and trial testimony in response to subpoenas) and that Greka had little probability of success on the merits. Additionally, the Court ordered that Lowrey recover his costs and attorney’s fees on appeal.