Glassdoor ends, not with a bang but a whimper – UPDATED

The much-watched Dallas case of Glassdoor Inc. v. Andra Group posed important questions about protection of anonymous speech online – here, posts on the popular job search website glassdoor.com – as well as the applicability of the TCPA to pre-suit discovery petitions under Tex. R. Civ. P. 202. The Texas Supreme Court, however, found that it “may not reach these issues . . . because the Rule 202 proceeding has been rendered moot by the fact that the petitioner’s potential claims against the anonymous speakers  are now time-barred as a matter of law.” No. 17-0463 (Tex. Jan. 25, 2019). Accordingly, the Fifth Court’s opinion stands as the law on the matter in Dallas (as persuasive authority rather than precedent, as the Texas Supreme Court vacated both the trial and appellate rulings), under which a Rule 202 petition can proceed when the record supports a finding “that the likely benefit of allowing [petitioner] to take a deposition about two anonymous reviews on [respondent’s] website outweighed the burden or expense of the procedure.”