TCPA: not “based on or in response to . . . “

In Soo v. Pletta, the Fifth Court affirmed the denial of a TCPA motion, finding an insufficient connection between the allegedly protected activity and the lawsuit, and noting:

• Case law about the previous version of the TCPA, which required a showing that claims were “based on, related to, or in response to” protected activity, has less relevance under the amended version that asks whether a claim is “based on or in respone to” the activity; and
• “The Soos’s argument that Trust’s claims are “based on or in response to” TCPA-protected activity simply because that activity occurred before Trust filed its lawsuit amounts to a post hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy and does not satisfy the Soos’s step one burden” under the TCPA.

No. 05-20-00876 (Jan. 14, 2022) (mem. op.).