Blanchard v. Steward Carney Hospital, Inc.

The motion judge denied the special motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ defamation claim against the Steward defendants1 because, in her judgment, the defendants failed to meet their burden to show that the count for defamation was based solely on petitioning activity. See Duracraft Corp. v. Holmes Prods. Corp., 427 Mass. 156, 167 (1998) (Duracraft) (moving party must make a threshold showing that the complaint is based on petitioning activity “alone”). Because the judge did not make a clear error of law or judgment in declining to dismiss the defamation claim with respect to the e-mail, I…