Jayesh Patel et al. v. Shailesh Patel et al.

This appeal arises from the denial of a petition to dismiss under the Tennessee Public Participation Act (“TPPA”), Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 20-17-101 to -110. The plaintiff-respondents, Jayesh Patel, Devesh Patel, and Vimal Patel (“Plaintiffs”),filed suit in Tennessee asserting claims for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and abuse of process against the defendants-petitioners, Shailesh Patel, BMGPC, LLC, Parul N. Patel, Dharmesh Patel, Ujval Patel, and Jyoti Patel (collectively, “Defendants”),who had initiated a related action against Plaintiffs in California state court. In response to the Tennessee action, Defendants filed a petition to dismiss pursuant to the TPPA, asserting that Plaintiffs filed their Complaint in response to Defendants’ exercise of their rights to petition and of free speech. Plaintiffs responded to the TPPA Petition and sought to amend their complaint to add claims that predated the filing of the California lawsuit. At a joint hearing on both the TPPA Petition and the Motion to Amend, the trial court granted the Motion to Amend and instructed Defendants that, if they proceeded on the TPPA Petition, the court would apply it to the First Amended Complaint. Defendants decided to press forward with the TPPA Petition. After considering the evidence produced by the parties, the trial court denied the TPPA Petition, concluding that the statute did not apply because Defendants failed to make a prima facie showing that the action was based on, related to, or in response to their exercise of the rights to petition or of free speech. This appeal followed. We respectfully disagree with the trial court’s decision. We conclude that Defendants established a prima facie case that Plaintiffs initiated this action in response to Defendants’ exercise of both their right to petition and their right to free speech. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand for further proceedings.