Plaintiff Ordered to Pay Homeowners’ Legal Bill
A Malibou Lake property owner who unsuccessfully tried to slap a legal muzzle on an outspoken homeowner organization has been ordered to pay the group’s legal bills. The decision was hailed Thursday as protecting citizen input in public disputes.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Zebrowski on Wednesday ordered Madeleine Drolet to reimburse the Malibou Lakeside Homeowners Assn. the $10,500 that it spent to fight a lawsuit she had filed to silence it.
Drolet, who wants to build a house on property she owns in the mountain hamlet south of Agoura Hills, tried to quiet opposition to her plans in March by filing a complaint commonly known as a SLAPP--an acronym for “strategic lawsuit against public participation.”
Developers nationwide frequently filed SLAPPs in recent years when homeowner groups criticized their projects, contending such protests hurt their livelihood. Developers rarely prevailed, but nonetheless wore down opponents through costly battles.
But a state law took effect Jan. 1 to help protect free speech and petition rights by curtailing SLAPPs.
It was under the terms of that law that Zebrowski characterized Drolet’s $4-million suit as having “no rational basis.” He further said in his two-page ruling that Drolet’s suit “was for the purpose of harassment in the sense that it was intended to intimidate the members of the Homeowners Assn.”
Association President Krag Brotby said Zebrowski’s ruling “sends a strong message. It augers well not only for our association, but all other associations in that they are going to be less intimidated by big money interests.”
Drolet’s attorney, Samuel Reece, called the decision “a mystery. I don’t understand it. It escapes me entirely.” He declined to elaborate.
The suit against the homeowners was but one element of a larger complaint Drolet had filed challenging Los Angeles County building restrictions. The restrictions, which require a rigorous planning review for most construction proposals, were put in place in January because of concerns over fire safety in the area.
The homeowners had lobbied for the restrictions and continued to push for even tougher measures after the restrictions were adopted. Drolet claimed the residents were interfering and said she could not afford the county’s $4,000 review process.
Zebrowski dismissed Drolet’s claim against the homeowners in July.
The Malibou Lakeside suit was one of two relatively high-profile SLAPP cases in the San Fernando Valley in recent years. The other pitted a Burbank woman against a developer who wanted to build luxury homes on wetlands above Burbank.
Although developer Sherman Whitmore eventually lost his case against Annette Baecker, Baecker was left with $18,000 in legal defense bills.
