Can my company get a temporary restraining order against someone?

Yes. In order to obtain a temporary restraining order (TRO), the employer must be able to establish by the evidence that there has been an act of violence or a real credible threat of violence.

An example of a real credible threat of violence is when a person is known to own a gun and tells the employee, “I am going to get my gun and meet you in the parking lot after work.”

An example of a threat that may not rise to a level of a credible threat of violence is when a co-worker, after a frustrating meeting, stops by a friend’s cubicle and says: “My boss makes me so mad I just want to punch him.”

This last statement may need to be taken seriously depending on the circumstances, but if this is an isolated incidence of venting frustration to a co-worker, it isn’t something, absent other evidence, that would give rise to a credible threat of violence for a judge to issue a TRO. Instead, this may be an issue for Human Resources to simply provide counseling to the employee on proper conduct in the workplace and monitoring for further outbursts.

In many cases, a judge issues TROs the same day that paperwork is submitted to the court. The TRO will remain in effect pending a hearing on whether a permanent injunction should be issued.

Permanent restraining orders may be granted if evidence is shown at a hearing that there is a need for a permanent injunction and the permanent restraining order can remain in effect for up to three years.

While human resources representatives may be involved in the investigation of a threat of workplace violence, they are not permitted to sign the paperwork submitted to court because they are not owners of the company. Only owners and officers of a corporation or the company’s attorney may sign on a company’s behalf.

In situations that involve either violence or real credible threats of violence, it is best to work with an attorney to ensure that your investigation is thorough and that the evidence submitted to a judge substantiates the immediate need for a restraining order.

An employer, and an employee who has employer approval, may seek a specialized restraining order referred to as a “gun violence restraining order” prohibiting an individual from having in their custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing or receiving, or attempting to purchase or receive, a firearm or ammunition upon showing of a substantial likelihood of significant danger or harm to self or others.

Additionally, effective January 1, 2025, California’s workplace violence restraining order law was expanded to allow an employer to seek a TRO when their employee has suffered “harassment,” which the law will define as a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys or harasses the person, and that serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be that which would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress and must actually cause substantial emotional distress.

Read more about Responding to Workplace Violence, including investigating reports and threats of workplace violence, in the HR Library.