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CASE STUDY
Davis v . Cox
Members of a Washington State food co-op filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the co-op ’ s board from continuing a boycott of Israeli products and divesting from Israeli companies . The co-op ’ s board of directors was successful in getting the lawsuit dismissed under the state ’ s anti-SLAPP statute and won an award of over $ 200,000 . On appeal , the Supreme Court of Washington partially reversed the lower court ’ s order . It held that while the anti-SLAPP laws were enacted to prevent frivolous lawsuits that typically attempt to quash First Amendment rights , the use of the statute here essentially cut off the co-op member ’ s right to bring a lawsuit .
While the co-op members eventually overcame the anti-SLAPP finding in their case , a similar lack of success following multiple appeals could result in a huge legal bill and an anti-SLAPP penalty to pay .