Gotterba v. Travolta

Filed 7/22/14 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

DOUGLAS GOTTERBA, 2d Civil No. B247518 (Super. Ct. No. 1414528) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Santa Barbara County)

v.

JOHN TRAVOLTA et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

Here we hold that a declaratory relief action filed in response to an attorney's letters threatening litigation over a contract dispute does not come within the provisions of a strategic lawsuit against public participation ("SLAPP"). (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16.)1 John Travolta, Atlo, Inc., a Delaware corporation, Constellation Productions, Inc., a California corporation, and Constellation Productions, Inc., a Florida corporation,2 appeal the trial court's order denying their motion to strike the first amended complaint for declaratory relief filed by Douglas Gotterba. We conclude that the trial court properly denied the motion to strike the complaint as a SLAPP, and affirm.

1 All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure. 2 We shall refer to the appellants collectively as "Atlo," except where clarity demands that we draw a distinction.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Between 1981 and 1987, Atlo employed Gotterba as an airplane pilot. In early 1987, Gotterba voluntarily left his employment with Atlo. The parties entered into a written termination agreement concerning employment matters such as updating and turnover of airplane log books, return of employer credit cards, discontinuation of telephone service, and cessation of medical insurance. Gotterba asserts that a three-page termination agreement dated March 17, 1987, is the enforceable agreement between the parties. That unsigned agreement does not contain a confidentiality provision restricting Gotterba's disclosure of personal, confidential, or proprietary information obtained during the course of his employment with Atlo. In contrast, Atlo insists that the enforceable termination agreement between the parties is a four-page agreement dated April 3, 1987, that includes this provision: "You hereby represent that you have not and will not disclose, communicate, use, nor permit the use of, in any fashion, any personal (i.e., those matters not customarily disclosed by Employer other than to insiders, in the case of [Atlo], or close friends in the case of Travolta), confidential or proprietary information about Employer or any principals of Employer that you obtained during your employment with Employer." This agreement appears to have been executed by Gotterba, Atlo, and Travolta. Atlo asserts that the three-page agreement upon which Gotterba relies is but an early draft of the termination agreement and was not executed by the parties. Nearly 25 years following cessation of his employment with Atlo, Gotterba decided to "tell the story of his life and those involved in it," including his personal relationship with Travolta. According to Gotterba, he was "unwillingly thrust" into the gossip tabloids by public revelations from another former Travolta employee. In June 2012, Atlo's attorney, Martin D. Singer, learned that Gotterba had given statements to a weekly newspaper, the National Enquirer, and that he planned to publish a book regarding his personal and intimate relationship with Travolta. On June