Bristol Asphalt, Co., Inc. v. Rochester Bituminous Products, Inc.

Summary

The court affirmed denial of the defendants' special motion to dismiss under the anti-SLAPP statute and remanded for further proceedings. It replaced the augmented anti-SLAPP framework with a two-stage approach based on the statutory text, restored the threshold inquiry requiring the movant to show that the claims are based solely on petitioning activity, and required the opponent to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioning lacked any reasonable factual support or arguable legal basis and caused actual injury. The court also held that appellate review of both stages is de novo.