Burdick v. Superior Court

John Sanderson and George Taylor (defendants), both California residents, sued Douglas Burdick (plaintiff), an Illinois resident, along with Nerium International, LLC (Nerium) and related Nerium-group corporations, for defamation and a series of other intentional torts. Burdick was an independent contractor for an Illinois corporation and consulted for Nerium in the course of his employment. Burdick had no personal or financial connections with California. Sanderson and Taylor together wrote a series of blog posts questioning the efficacy and safety of Nerium AD, a skincare product made by Nerium, as well as Nerium’s multi-level marketing structure. The suit arose from an allegedly defamatory post made on Burdick’s personal Facebook page personally attacking Sanderson and Taylor in response to their blog posts. Burdick made, and eventually removed, the post while in Illinois. Burdick filed a motion to quash service of the summons for lack of personal jurisdiction. Sanderson and Taylor countered, pointing out the Facebook post was publicly available. The superior court (defendant) denied the motion, ruling that California had personal jurisdiction over Burdick under the effects test because the allegedly defamatory actions were targeted at the California activities of California residents and the effects were felt in California. Burdick filed an interlocutory appeal.