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that determination, we look to the “principal thrust or gravamen of the plaintiff’s cause of
action.” (Martinez v. Metabolife Internat., Inc. (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 181, 188; Dyer v.
Childress (2007) 147 Cal.App.4th 1273, 1279.)
Laramar’s brief on appeal essentially ignores all pertinent principles or cases, its
brief nowhere mentioning “gravamen” or “thrust,” or even attempting to meaningfully
discuss what Moriarty’s complaint is “based on.” Rather Laramar states its argument this
way:
“D. Plaintiff’s Lawsuit Against Laramar is a SLAPP
“Plaintiff has attempted to disguise the fact that this action is a SLAPP, but it is a
SLAPP nonetheless. The complaint sets forth numerous causes of action against all of
the defendants, including a penultimate [sic] cause of action for ‘Wrongful Eviction,’
accusing the Defendants of a laundry-list of bad actions as landlords. However, the
laundry list includes the filing and prosecution of the Unlawful Detainer Action that
resulted in Plaintiff’s eviction. In particular, the Complaint asserts the following conduct
as the basis of Plaintiff’s claims:
“45. In or after June of 2011, Plaintiff learned that Defendants had chosen to
permanently retain possession of the subject premises and thereafter refused to return
possession to Plaintiff in violation of Plaintiff’s rights . . . .
“55. As a direct and proximate result of the above acts by Defendants . . . .
Plaintiff lost possession of the Subject Premises and suffered loss of the Subject Premises
to his general damage in an amount to be proven at trial. . . .
“56. Defendants . . . endeavored to recover possession of the Subject Premises in
bad faith through unlawful harassment and other means, including but not limited to the
following actions: . . . .
“e. Refusing to return possession of the Premises to Plaintiff after the completion
of repairs and remediation. . . .
“70. Defendants violated their duty of due care to Plaintiff and violated their
statutory duties to Plaintiff by failing to state just cause for the eviction of Plaintiff or