Filed 4/18/23 Sanchez v. CoreCivic of Tennessee CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 MONICA NICOLE WILLIAMS D080285 SANCHEZ, Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 37-2021- v. 00046382-CU-WT-CTL) CORECIVIC OF TENNESSEE, LLC et al., Defendants and Appellants. APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Kenneth J. Medel, Judge. Affirmed and remanded. Gleason and Favarote, Paul M. Gleason and Jing Tong, for Defendants and Appellants. Bodell Law Group, Daniel D. Bodell; Williams Iagmin and Jon R. Williams, for Plaintiff and Respondent. This appeal revolves around a single paragraph in a complaint that contains 127 paragraphs and asserts ten causes of action. Defendants CoreCivic of Tennessee and Bessy Glaske appeal from the trial court’s order denying their special motion to strike as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) eight of the ten causes of action asserted by plaintiff Monica Nicole Williams Sanchez. In the underlying retaliation and discrimination action, Sanchez alleges that defendants harassed, retaliated against, and wrongfully terminated her for reporting the company’s unlawful and unethical conduct and for seeking medical leave to which she was legally entitled. Defendants argue in their anti-SLAPP motion that eight of Sanchez’s claims are based on an alleged conversation between Glaske and a governmental agency, which Sanchez references in one paragraph in her general allegations, and her claims thus arise from protected speech and activity. On de novo review, we conclude that defendants’ alleged liability is not predicated on any protected activity, and the trial court thus properly denied their anti-SLAPP motion. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order. We also find that defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion, and their appeal of the denial of that motion, are devoid of merit, and on that basis grant Sanchez’s request for an award of fees and costs on appeal. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. The Parties CoreCivic of Tennessee, LLC (CoreCivic) is a for-profit, publicly traded company headquartered in Tennessee that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers on contract with federal, state, and local governments. Specifically, CoreCivic designs, builds, manages, and operates correctional facilities and detention centers for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Marshals Service, as well as state and county facilities across the United States. CoreCivic operates one such correctional facility, located on Boston Avenue in 2 San Diego, under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Sanchez is a San Diego resident who was employed by CoreCivic and its predecessors from 1994 until her termination in 2021. She has held a variety of roles at CoreCivic, including program manager, senior case manager, case manager, job developer, disciplinary hearing officer and clerk. She …
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