So apparently Chupp ordered mediation before he rules? That seems rather bizarre, particularly for this case.
Just what the fuck is there to mediate there? This isn't a piece of land that they can split in two, or an inheritance of money they can agree to share or put towards a mutually agreeable cause. This is "They deliberately told lies about me to destroy my reputation and career". There are no compromises that aren't significantly detrimental to either one side or the other. If Vic doesn't walk away from the case with at least a confession or a large sum of money from the defendants, it will be an inadequate salve for his damaged reputation and career. If the defendants give him either a confession or a large sum of money, it will be either a damning admission on their part that they wronged Vic, or a tacit admission that they wronged Vic that leaves them out a bunch of money.
That's not even considering that this is at the TCPA stage of the case. The part where the judge is supposed to figure out if there's even arguably a case to be had here. If there's enough of a dispute to be mediated, then that alone should mean that there's enough of a case to proceed with discovery. Which gives the plantiff a strong incentive to not compromise with the defendants in the belief that either the judge will rule in his favor, or he'll have a strong case upon appeal. At the same time the defendants have a strong incentive to wait for the TCPA ruling to see if they can get out of the case cheap before compromising with the plantiff, and the mediation order does little to weaken that incentive.
All told, Chupp is basically ordering them to attempt settlement talks while they're waiting on him to rule if there's even a valid case to settle.
