No TCPA for Mr. Lei

In Lei v. Natural Polymer Int’l Corp., the Fifth Court affirmed the denial of a TCPA motion (and then some) in a trade-secrets dispute about the making of “natural pet treats,” holding:

• Association. Under Dyer v. Medoc Health Services, while another appeal district might have a different view, under Dallas precedent the plaintiff failed to invoke the TCPA’s protection of assocation rights;
• Speech. “We cannot conclude that these alleged ‘communications’ are tangentially related to a matter of public concern simply because the proprietary and confidential information at issue belonged to a company in the business of selling pet treats that promote health ‘or because the alleged tortfeasors hoped to profit from their conduct.’”’
• Petition. [T]o construe the TCPA such that appellants exercised a ‘right to petition’ based on their deposition testimony . . . ‘is an absurd result that would not further the purpose of the TCPA to curb strategic lawsuits against public participation.’” (applying Miller Weisbrod, LLP v. Llamas-Soforo, 511 S.W.3d 181, 192–93 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2014, no pet.); and
• Award of fees. It was not an abuse of discretion to find the TCPA motion frivolous, when at an earlier temporary-injunction hearing, “[t]he trial court had already heard evidence supporting NPIC’s pleaded causes of action at the time appellants filed their motion to dismiss.”

No. 05-18-01041-CV (June 21, 2019).