SEG, Inc. v. Stillman
California Court of Appeal
2003 WL 21197133 (2003)
- Written by Kyli Cotten, JD
Facts
In 2000, Stacey Stillman (defendant) was selected to be a contestant on the reality television show Survivor. Survivor was produced by CBS and SEG, Inc. (plaintiff). During the application process, Stillman signed an agreement promising not to disclose any information concerning the show and its production. Eventually, Stillman was voted off the show by fellow contestants and therefore did not win the $1 million prize. Stillman was later informed by fellow contestants that executive producer Mark Burnett had told other contestants to vote her off. Stillman discussed such allegations with a writer, Peter Lance, who was in the process of drafting a book about the Survivor show. Stillman filed suit against CBS, SEG, and Burnett, alleging that they had violated a federal law prohibiting the rigging of gameshows. Stillman then distributed copies of the complaint on the internet and to the media. Consequently, SEG filed an action, alleging breach of written contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, defamation, product disparagement, and seeking injunctive relief. Stillman filed a motion to strike certain counts of the complaint. The trial court ultimately found that SEG had provided a prima facie showing supporting its defamation claim, but it granted the motion to strike as to the breach-of-contract and breach-of-implied-covenant claims. Both parties appealed the order. SEG argued that it had presented sufficient evidence to prove that Stillman’s disclosures to Peter Lance, her disclosures to the media, and her filing suit constituted breaches of her agreement not to disclose any information concerning the show.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Croskey, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.