Makaeff V. Trump University
FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT TARLA MAKAEFF, on behalf of No. 11-55016 herself and all others similarly situated, D.C. No. Plaintiff-counter-defendant- 3:10-cv-00940- Appellant, IEG-WVG and OPINION BRANDON KELLER; ED OBERKROM; PATRICIA MURPHY, Plaintiffs, v. TRUMP UNIVERSITY, LLC, a New York limited liability company, AKA Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, Defendant-counter-claimant- Appellee, and DONALD J. TRUMP, Defendant. 2 MAKAEFF V. TRUMP UNIVERSITY Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Irma E. Gonzalez, Chief District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted January 18, 2012—Irvine, California Filed April 17, 2013 Before: Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge, Kim McLane Wardlaw and Richard A. Paez, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge Wardlaw; Concurrence by Chief Judge Kozinski; Concurrence by Judge Paez SUMMARY* California Anti-SLAPP Statute / Defamation The panel reversed the district court’s denial of a pre-trial motion to strike a counterclaim pursuant to California’s anti- SLAPP statute, and remanded for further proceedings. A disgruntled former customer sued Trump University for deceptive business practices, and Trump University counterclaimed for defamation. The district court held that Trump University was not a public figure, and denied the * This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. MAKAEFF V. TRUMP UNIVERSITY 3 motion to strike the defamation claim under the Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute. The panel held that Trump University was a limited public figure with respect to the subject of its advertising, and to prevail on its defamation claim, must demonstrate that the customer acted with actual malice.
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