KOSOR, JR. VS. OLYMPIA CO.'S, LLC

2020 NV 83, 478 P.3d 390
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 31, 2020
Docket75669
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2020 NV 83 (KOSOR, JR. VS. OLYMPIA CO.'S, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
KOSOR, JR. VS. OLYMPIA CO.'S, LLC, 2020 NV 83, 478 P.3d 390 (Neb. 2020).

Opinion

136 Nev., Advance Opinion 03 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA

MICHAEL KOSOR, JR, A NEVADA No. 75669 RESIDENT, Appellant, vs. OLYMPIA COMPANIES, LLC, A FIL NEVADA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY; AND GARRY V. GOETT, A NEVADA RESIDENT, Respondents.

Appeal from a district court order denying an anti-SLAPP special motion to dismiss in a defamation action. Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Michelle Leavitt, Judge. Reversed and remanded.

Barron & Pruitt, LLP, and William H. Pruitt and Joseph R. Meservy, North Las Vegas, for Appellant.

Kemp, Jones & Coulthard, LLP, and J. Randall Jones and Nathanael R. Rulis, Las Vegas, for Respondents.

BEFORE PICKERING, C.J., HARDESTY and CADISH, JJ.1

1The Honorable Ron Parraguirre, Justice, voluntarily recused himself

and took no part in the consideration of this appeal. The Honorable Kristina Pickering, Chief Justice, sits in his place. SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA

10) I 947A u-411,4111' OPINION By the Court, PICKERING, C.J.: This case arises in the context of Nevada's anti-SLAPP protections, which appellant Michael Kosor says apply to his vociferous criticisms of the homeowners association and developers/managers of the residential community of Southern Highlands in Clark County. Respondents, Olympia Companies, LLC, and its president and CEO, Garry V. Goett (collectively, Olympia)—said developers/managers—bore the brunt of those criticisms, which Kosor voiced at open meetings of the homeowners' association, distributed in a pamphlet and letter supporting his campaign for a seat on the homeowners' association board, and posted online; accordingly, Olympia sued Kosor for defamation. Because we conclude that each of Kosor's statements was "made in direct connection with an issue of public interest in a place open to the public or in a public forum," see NRS 41.637(4), we reverse the district court's decision to the contrary and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. After purchasing a home in Southern Highlands, Kosor became an avid and outspoken participant at meetings for the community, serving as board member of a homeowners' sub-association and ultimately mounting several campaigns for election to the overarching Southern Highlands Community Association (the HOA). During the course of his activism, Kosor criticized the HOA for its decision to continue Southern Highlands' contracts with its developer, turned manager and operator, Olympia. Kosor claimed that these contracts financially benefited Olympia and the HOA at the expense of the community's individual homeowners.

2 The defamation complaint claims that Kosor made the first set of allegedly defamatory statements at an HOA sub-association board meeting: specifically, it claims that Kosor stated that Olympia met with Clark County Commissioners in a "dark room" and coerced them to act or vote in a particular manner, and that Olympia was "lining its pockets" at the homeowners expense. Though Olympia says it subsequently sent Kosor a cease-and-desist letter, the complaint claims he continued to speak at meetings, including about how Olympia and the HOA had allegedly violated the law and breached their fiduciary duties to the homeowners. Kosor also posted a statement on the social media platform Nextdoor.com, in which he stated that Olympia obtained a lucrative agreement" with Clark County by agreeing to shift expenses for the maintenance of public parks to the Southern Highlands homeowners. Kosor made additional statements in connection with his first campaign for election to the HOA board of directors. His campaign website compared Olympia to a sort of foreign dictatorship and further raised the same allegations of supposed "sweetheart deals" between Olympia and Clark County officials to shift the costs of park maintenance from the county to Southern Highlands homeowners, statutory violations, breaches of fiduciary duty, and improper cost shifting. Kosor also distributed a pamphlet and letter to the Southern Highlands community echoing statements made on his website and further claiming that Olympia's actions have "already cost the homeowners millions." Olympia sued Kosor for defamation and defamation per se. After filing an answer, Kosor moved to dismiss under NRS 41.660, Nevada's anti-SLAPP statute. The district court held that Kosor had failed to establish a prima facie case under NRS 41.660 and entered an order

SUPREME Cour' OF NEVADA 3 (0) I947A 4410i), denying the motion. Kosor appealed. See NRS 41.670(4) (providing a right of interlocutory appeal from a district court order denying a special motion to dismiss under NRS 41.660). The district court subsequently denied Kosor's motion for reconsideration in an order filed while this appeal was pending. 11. Nevada's anti-SLAPP statutes deter lawsuits targeting good- faith speech on important public matters. See Coker v. Sassone, 135 Nev. 8, 10, 432 P.3d 746, 748 (2019). If a party to a defamation lawsuit files a special motion to dismiss under Nevada's anti-SLAPP statutes and prevails, then that party is entitled to a speedy resolution of the case in its favor and recovery of attorney fees incurred in defending the action. See NRS 41.660 (rights); NRS 41.670 (remedies). We review a district court's decision refusing to dismiss under the anti-SLAPP statutes de novo. Abrams v. Sanson, 136 Nev. 83, 86, 458 P.3d 1062, 1065-66 (2020). And, "[i]n making such a determination, we conduct an independent review of the record." Taylor v. Colon, 136 Nev., Adv. Op. 50, 468 P.3d 820, 825 (2020). A. To establish a prima facie case for anti-SLAPP protection, a movant needs to demonstrate "by a preponderance of the evidence, that [the underlying defamation] claim is based upon a good faith communication in furtherance of the right to petition or the right to free speech in direct connection with an issue of public concern." NRS 41.660(3)(a); NRS 41.637 (defining qualifying communications). Because the district court does not appear to have considered in depth whether Kosor made his communications in "good faith," we leave it to the district court to evaluate on remand whether Kosor can so demonstrate. Our analysis here addresses

SUPREME COUFtT OF NEVADA 4 (0) 1947A 4.4112ND only whether Kosor's statements fall within the specific statutory category of speech protected, for anti-SLAPP purposes, by NRS 41.637(4): "any . . . [c] ommunication made in direct connection with an issue of public interest in a place open to the public or in a public forum." 1. To judge whether Kosor's statements addressed an issue of public interest, we apply five guiding principles. Shapiro v. Welt, 133 Nev. 35, 39, 389 P.3d 262, 268 (2017) (adopting five-factor test for "public interest" from Piping Rock Partners, Inc. v.

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2020 NV 83, 478 P.3d 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kosor-jr-vs-olympia-cos-llc-nev-2020.