Guzzetta v. City of DesertHot Springs
Filed 2/23/07 Guzzetta v. City of Desert Hot Springs CA4/1
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION ONE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
JOSEPH P. GUZZETTA, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CITY OF DESERT HOT SPRINGS et al., Defendants and Respondents. | D049595 (Super. Ct. No. INC045204) |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Christopher J. Sheldon, Judge. Affirmed.
In this appeal, Joseph P. Guzzetta, the former city manager of the City of Desert Hot Springs (the City), challenges the trial court's dismissal of his lawsuit against the City, and its mayor, Matt Weyuker. Specifically, Guzzetta challenges the trial court's (i) sustaining of a demurrer to Guzzetta's cause of action for violation of the False Claims Act (Gov. Code, 12650, 12653, subd. (b)) on the ground that Guzzetta did not give the City notice of the claim as required under Government Code section 905; and (ii) striking of Guzzetta's remaining causes of action for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and a violation of the Labor Code, under the anti-SLAPP statute, Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (section 425.16), which requires dismissal of meritless claims that would penalize an exercise of protected free speech rights.
Guzzetta contends that the trial court erred in sustaining the demurrer to his False Claims Act cause of action because the cause of action fell within an exception to the Government Code's notice of claim requirements. He also argues that the court's anti-SLAPP ruling was erroneous because the defamatory statements at issue did not constitute a valid exercise of free speech rights, and because he demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the stricken claims.
As discussed below, our evaluation of these contentions reveals them to be without merit. Consequently, we affirm the judgment.
FACTS
In December 2000, Guzzetta was hired by the City to be its City manager. Prior to taking the position, Guzzetta had worked as city manager for the cities of Hemet, Corte Madera and Rialto. In a January 2001 Desert Sun Newspaper article regarding Guzzetta's hiring, Weyuker was quoted as saying that Guzzetta was " 'an excellent professional' " with " 'excellent credentials and superior strengths' " who would be an " 'integral part of the process' " of the City's effort to " 'turn the corner' " and " 'make progress.' "
In December 2002, the City terminated Guzzetta from his position. In November 2003, during a contested election for mayor in which Weyuker was criticized by his opponent for firing Guzzetta (who was described by the opponent as "the most professional City Manager we ever had"), an article entitled Straight Talk from the Mayor, written by Weyuker, appeared in the Valley Breeze newspaper. The article contains five subheadings which are introduced by the statement: "Examples of the distortions that [the mayoral challenger] is spreading in this campaign are listed below." Under the fourth subheading, "City Hall Stability," the article includes the following statements:
