Pryor v. Brignole

Citations

• 346 Conn. 534

Syllabus

The plaintiff attorney, who previously had been employed by the defendant law firm, L Co., sought to recover damages for breach of a contractual nondisparagement clause in connection with anonymous letters that the defendant B, who owned and managed L Co., allegedly sent to various news outlets. In the letters, B identified the plaintiff, described an incident in which the plaintiff was arrested and charged with certain serious crimes, and opined that the plaintiff's conduct was of public concern because it implicated his fitness to practice law. B also claimed that the judicial system was likely to conceal the matter because the plaintiff was an attorney. The defendants each filed a special motion to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint pursuant to the statute (§ 52-196a (b)) permitting the trial court to dismiss a complaint that is based on, inter alia, the opposing party's exercise of his or her constitutional right to free speech on a matter of public concern. The trial court denied the defendants' special motions to dismiss, however, concluding that they could not meet their initial burden of showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that they were being sued because B exercised his right of free speech, insofar as B had denied sending the anonymous letters and, thus, had denied engaging in any speech at all. The defendants subsequently filed with the Appellate Court separate appeals from the trial court's denial of their special motions to dismiss. The plaintiff moved to dismiss the appeals for lack of a final judgment, and, over the defendants' objections, the Appellate Court granted the plaintiff's motions and dismissed the appeals. On the granting of certification, the defendants filed separate appeals with this court. Held that the Appellate Court improperly dismissed the defendants' appeals from the trial court's denial of their special motions to dismiss for lack of a final judgment, and, accordingly, this court reversed the Appellate This case originall