McCarter defended a victory at the Connecticut Appellate Court on behalf of High Watch Recovery Center, Inc. (High Watch), a non-profit substance abuse facility located in Connecticut. High Watch had been sued by Birch Hill Recovery Center over alleged tortious interference and unfair trade practices after High Watch opposed Birch Hill’s certificate of need application before Connecticut’s Office of Health Care Access (now the Office of Health Strategy).
High Watch filed a “special motion to dismiss” under Connecticut’s Anti-SLAPP statute, C.G.S. § 52-196a, which allows a defendant to demonstrate that a lawsuit is targeting the defendant’s constitutionally-protected activity and force the plaintiff to demonstrate its claims have probable cause. High Watch argued that Birch Hill’s claims targeted its protected speech, petitioning, and assembly activities, and that its claims lack probable cause in light of its First Amendment defense and the litigation privilege. After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion and subsequently issued an award of attorney’s fees to High Watch.
The Connecticut Appellate Court recently affirmed the dismissal and rejected Birch Hill’s claim that the “sham litigation” exception took its claims out of the Noerr-Pennington doctrine. It held that High Watch had an objectively reasonable basis for challenging Birch Hill’s certificate of need application. The Court noted that the findings of the agency were consistent with the information submitted by High Watch, and that High Watch’s decision to expand its own facility was consistent with the submissions it had made to the agency.
After the appellate victory, High Watch obtained an additional award of attorney’s fees for McCarter’s work on the appeal.
High Watch is represented by Peter J. Zarella and Snigdha Mamillapalli.