An LCW team led by Partner Oliver Yee, Senior Counsel Alison Kalinski, and Associate Millicent Usoro convinced a court to grant a three-year Workplace Violence Restraining Order that prevents a former employee from harassing and threatening three community college district employees. The judge found that although the former employee has a First Amendment right to threaten another with a legal claim, the vulgar and threatening portion of the former employee’s text messages had no legitimate purpose. This Restraining Order prohibits the former employee from contacting, approaching, or interacting with the three employees for three years.
LCW Associate Attorney Usoro put together declarations from the affected members of the district community and presented this evidence, along with testimony, to the court to obtain a temporary restraining order. Senior Counsel Kalinski presented evidence from two of the community college district employees that felt harassed and threatened in a direct examination in court. Kalinski also cross-examined the former employee who had been harassing the employees. Their case was enough to convince the court that there was clear and convincing evidence that would cause a reasonable person to be seriously alarmed, annoyed, and harassed and that irreparable harm would result absent a restraining order.