Sykes v. Gilbert [1]

Jonathan Sykes is a professor and practitioner of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. He performed a series of facial cosmetic procedures on Georgette Gilbert in February 2003.

Gilbert was unhappy with the results. She sued Sykes for malpractice and created a website relating her experiences with Dr. Sykes (including before and after photos). Her website was not simply aimed at criticizing Dr. Sykes, but also offered information and advice for those considering plastic surgery.

Dr. Sykes filed a cross-complaint in the malpractice action, alleging that the statements on the website constituted defamation, and that Gilbert's actions constituted intentional and negligent interference with economic advantage and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Gilbert brought a motion to strike the cross-complaint pursuant to California's anti-SLAPP statute (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16 [2]). The district court denied the motion, finding that the Sykes had shown a probability of prevailing on his defamation claim. In January 2007, the Court of Appeals of the State of California, Third Appellate District, reversed, holding that Sykes was a limited purpose public figure and therefore had the burden of making a preliminary showing that the statements on the website were false and published with actual malice. The court found that the before-and-after photos on Gilbert's site were not misleading, and that various other statements were substantially true and not subject to a defamatory meaning. The court held further that Sykes's claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and interference with economic advantage failed automatically due to the dismissal of his defamation claim because those claims were based entirely on Gilbert's protected speech.