Pilcher v. Stribling
| Decision Date | 18 June 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. S06G1482.,S06G1482. |
| Citation | 282 Ga. 166,647 S.E.2d 8 |
| Parties | PILCHER v. STRIBLING et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Edwin Marger, Jasper, Michael John Puglise, Snellville, for appellant.
Benton, Preston & Malcolm, Paul Lee Rosenthal, Monroe, for appellee.
When the events underlying this action occurred, appellant Terry Pilcher was the fire chief of the City of Loganville Fire Department and appellees Jason Stribling and Carl Morrow were fire department employees. Appellees sought protective orders against Pilcher for stalking, alleging verbal abuse directed toward them in the workplace, as well as physical assaults occurring primarily during basketball games conducted as part of their required physical training. Ultimately, the trial court issued a permanent restraining order, enjoining Pilcher from coming within 500 yards of appellees and certain other protected parties, and allowing Pilcher to continue to perform his duties as fire chief only when accompanied by a person able to give independent and credible testimony as to his actions toward these employees. In Pilcher v. Stribling, 278 Ga.App. 889, 630 S.E.2d 94 (2006), the Court of Appeals reversed as to one protected party who testified that he never feared for his safety,1 but affirmed as to appellees, holding that Georgia's anti-stalking statute applies "where a supervisor so exceeds the bounds of legitimate employment activity that he engages in a pattern of verbal and physical abuse of his subordinates causing them to fear for their safety." (Footnote omitted.) Id. at 893(1), 630 S.E.2d 94. We granted certiorari to consider whether Pilcher's actions constitute stalking as defined in OCGA § 16-5-90(a)(1).
A person commits the offense of stalking when he or she follows, places under surveillance, or contacts another person at or about a place or places without the consent of the other person for the purpose of harassing and intimidating the other person. ... [T]he term "contact" shall mean any communication[.] ... [T]he term "place or places" shall include any public or private property occupied by the victim other than the residence of the defendant. ... [T]he term "harassing and intimidating" means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes emotional distress by placing such person in reasonable fear for such person's safety or the safety of a member of his or her immediate family, by establishing a pattern of harassing and intimidating behavior, and which serves no legitimate purpose.
OCGA § 16-5-90(a)(1). In order to obtain a protective order based on stalking, the petitioner must establish the elements of the offense by a preponderance of the evidence. OCGA §§ 16-5-94(e), 19-13-3(c). "The grant or denial of a motion for protective order generally lies within the sound discretion of the...
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