Yahoo!

O’Melveny represents Yahoo! and a female executive, Maria Zhang, in a high-profile same-gender, quid pro quo sexual harassment case that has received wide-spread press coverage. The plaintiff alleges that Zhang, her supervisor, coerced her into a sexual relationship, and she accused Yahoo! of firing her because she reported the alleged sexual harassment to Yahoo. Five days after the complaint was filed, Zhang countered by filing a cross-complaint for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The plaintiff filed an “anti-SLAPP” motion to dismiss, which O’Melveny opposed, arguing among other things that the plaintiff's report was not protected conduct but rather part of an unlawful effort to extort money from Yahoo based on false and defamatory allegations. The court denied the plaintiff’s motion finding that Zhang had established sufficient evidence to show a likelihood of success on the merits of her defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims and that plaintiff’s conduct did appear to be extortionate.