Daily Post Correspondent
A candidate in the 2018 race for Palo Alto Unified school board has lost his appeal in a case in which he accused a local newspaper of defamation.
Christopher Boyd sued Embarcadero Media, which publishes the Palo Alto Weekly, in September 2019, accusing the paper of defaming him, intentionally inflicting emotional distress, and causing mental anguish.
Boyd finished last among six candidates for two seats on the Palo Alto school board in the November 2018 election.
In July 2020, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sunil Kulkarni granted Embarcadero Media’s motion to throw out the case.
Kulkarni said that Boyd had not submitted evidence to support his claims in his opposition to Embarcadero Media’s motion.
And last week, the Sixth District California Court of Appeal issued a decision upholding Kulkarni’s order.
Paper can force him to pay its legal fees
The appellate court is allowing the publisher to recover legal fees of the appeal, along with attorney costs, from Boyd.
Boyd’s case named Embarcadero Media and its founder, Bill Johnson, as defendants.
The case centered on stories published in the Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online in September and October 2018. The paper reported that Boyd was “falsely claiming” that Insted, an after-school science and technology program where Boyd was chief educator, was a tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
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