Ultimately, this Court cannot conclude at this stage that Lanham's Counterclaim was brought in bad faith. See Ugwuonye v. Rotimi, 2010 WL 3038099, at *4 (D. Md. July 30, 2010) ("At this stage of the litigation, where discovery has yet to be completed, the Court is not prepared to dismiss the suit based solely on [defendant's] mere allegation that the suit is brought in bad faith."). While Plaintiffs contend that Lanham's Counterclaim depends on "conclusory allegations and illegitimate inferences" and "is not viable on its face," ECF 56 at 25, this Court has already held that the Counterclaim pleads sufficient facts to otherwise survive the motion to dismiss.
The facts in this case stand in stark contrast to the federal decisions cited by MCB where motions to dismiss under the Maryland Anti-SLAPP statute were denied. See Knox v. Mayor & City Council Baltimore City , 2017 WL 5903709 (D. Md. 30 Nov. 2017), Ugwuonye v. Rotimi , 2010 WL 3038099 (D. Md. 30 July 2010), and Russell v. Krowne , 2010 WL 2765268 (D. Md. 12 July 2010). In Knox , the district court declined to dismiss a counterclaim under the Anti-SLAPP statute asserting claims for malicious prosecution, fraud, defamation and battery against a subordinate employee, filed within her case for employment discrimination premised upon sexual harassment and retaliation, concluding that the employee made "bare allegations" that the supervisor filed the counterclaim in bad faith to deter the plaintiff from exercising her rights under the First Amendment.