Bristol Asphalt, Co., Inc. v. Rochester Bituminous Products, Inc.
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In a complex commercial dispute with a series of administrative and legal challenges, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found that the defendants did not meet the criteria to dismiss the case under the "anti-SLAPP" statute. The court outlined a simplified framework for considering anti-SLAPP motions, returning to the traditional approach set out in Duracraft Corp. v. Holmes Prods. Corp. The court also clarified that the appropriate standard of review for a ruling on a special motion to dismiss is de novo, rather than for an abuse of discretion.
The dispute arose from the plaintiffs' efforts to open an asphalt plant in the same industrial zone as the existing plant owned by the defendants. The defendants launched a series of administrative and legal challenges to the plaintiffs’ efforts to obtain regulatory approval for the construction and operation of the proposed plant. The plaintiffs filed a three-count complaint alleging that the defendants' legal challenges constituted unfair or deceptive acts or practices, conspiracy in restraint of trade, and abuse of process. In response, the defendants filed a special motion to dismiss under the anti-SLAPP statute.
The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the lower court's denial of the defendants' special motion to dismiss, concluding that the defendants' petitioning activities were not entitled to the procedural protections of the anti-SLAPP statute. The court found that the defendants' challenges to the plaintiffs' proposed asphalt plant did not lack any reasonable factual support or arguable legal basis. Therefore, the plaintiffs' claims were not subject to dismissal under the anti-SLAPP statute.
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