A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PREVENTION OF WORKPLACE VIOLENCE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 95 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 23.
"Workplace Violence Prevention.
"§ 95-260.  Definitions.
The following definitions apply in this Article:
(1)	Course of conduct. – A pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose, including:  following or stalking an employee to or from the employee's place of work; entering the workplace of an employee; following an employee during hours of employment; making telephone calls to an employee; and corresponding with an employee, including correspondence through the use of the public or private mails, interoffice mail, facsimile, or computer e-mail.
(2)	Credible threat of violence. – A knowing and willful statement or course of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to believe that he or she is under threat of death or serious bodily injury and that is intended to, and that actually causes, a person to believe that he or she is under threat of death or serious bodily injury.
(3)	Employer. – Any person or entity that employs one or more employees and includes the State of North Carolina and its political subdivisions.
(4)	Unlawful violence. – Maliciously assaulting in a secret manner under G.S. 14-31; felonious assault with a deadly weapon under G.S. 14-32; assault on a handicapped person under G.S. 14-32.1; assault inflicting serious bodily injury under G.S. 14-32.4; misdemeanor assaults, batteries, and affrays under G.S. 14-33; habitual misdemeanor assault under G.S. 14-33.2; or stalking under G.S. 14-277.3. Unlawful violence does not include acts of self-defense or defense of others.
"§ 95-261.  Employers may seek protection of employees from workplace violence by filing petition.
(a)	Any employer whose employee has suffered unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence from any individual that can reasonably be construed to have been carried out at the employee's workplace may seek a temporary restraining order and an injunction on behalf of the employer prohibiting further unlawful violence or threats of violence by that individual at the employee's workplace or while the employee is acting within the course and scope of employment with the employer.
(b)	Upon filing a petition with the court for an injunction pursuant to this section, the petitioner may obtain a temporary restraining order if the petitioner also files an affidavit that shows, to the satisfaction of the court, reasonable proof that an employee has suffered unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence by the respondent and that great or irreparable harm will result to an employee if the injunction is not granted. The affidavit shall further show that the petitioner has conducted a reasonable investigation into the underlying facts that are the subject of the petition. A temporary restraining order granted under this section shall remain in effect, at the court's discretion, for a period not to exceed 15 days, unless otherwise modified or terminated by the court.
(c)	Except for proceedings involving a nonresident respondent, the court of competent jurisdiction of the county where the unlawful violence or credible threat of violence occurred has jurisdiction over all proceedings under this Article. For proceedings under this Article involving a nonresident respondent, the court of competent jurisdiction where the petitioner's workplace is located has jurisdiction, when the act involving unlawful violence or a credible threat of unlawful violence meets the elements for personal jurisdiction under G.S. 1-75.4.
(d)	Upon the filing of a petition for an injunction under the provisions of this section, the respondent shall be personally served with a copy of the petition, temporary restraining order, if any, and notice of hearing on the petition.
(e)	All orders and injunctions issued under this Article have statewide validity, unless specifically modified or terminated by the issuing judge, and may be enforced by the issuing court for any violation anywhere in the State, and by any court of competent jurisdiction within the State for violations that may occur within that court's jurisdiction.
"§ 95-262.  Hearing to follow filing of petition.
(a)	Within 10 days of filing of the petition under this Article or as soon as practical thereafter, but in no case later than 30 days after the filing of the petition, a hearing shall be held on the petition for an injunction. In the event a hearing cannot be scheduled within the county where the case is pending within the 30-day period, it shall be scheduled and heard as soon as possible. The respondent may file a response that explains, excuses, justifies, or denies the alleged unlawful violence or credible threat of violence or may file a counterclaim under this Article. At the hearing, the judge shall receive any testimony that is relevant and may make an independent inquiry. If the judge finds by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent engaged in unlawful violence or made a credible threat of violence, an injunction shall be issued prohibiting further unlawful violence or threat of violence at the employee's workplace or while the employee is acting within the course and scope of employment with the employer.
(b)	An injunction issued pursuant to this Article shall have a duration of not more than three years. At any time within three months before the expiration of the injunction, the petitioner may apply for a renewal of the injunction by filing a new petition for an injunction pursuant to this Article.
"§ 95-263.  Temporary restraining orders; injunctions.
(a)	The court may include any one or more of the following orders in its temporary restraining order or its injunction under this Article:
(1)	Order the respondent not to visit, assault, molest, or otherwise interfere with the employer or the employer's operations, or the employer's employee or invitee at the employer's workplace.
(2)	Order the respondent to cease stalking the employer's employee or invitee at the employer's workplace.
(3)	Order the respondent to cease harassment of the employer or the employer's employee or invitee at the employer's workplace.
(4)	Order the respondent not to abuse or injure the employer, including the employer's property, or the employer's employee or invitee at the employer's workplace.
(5)	Order the respondent not to telephone the employer or the employer's employee or invitee at the employer's workplace.
(6)	Order other relief deemed necessary and appropriate by the court.
(b)	The court shall order the petitioner or the attorney for the petitioner to deliver a copy of each temporary restraining order or injunction, or modification or termination thereof, granted under this Article, by the close of the business day on which the order was granted, to the law enforcement agencies within the court's discretion as are requested by the petitioner. Each appropriate law enforcement agency shall make available information as to the existence and current status of these orders to law enforcement officers responding to the scene of reported unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence. When necessary to protect the employer or the employer's employee, invitee, or property, and when authorized by the court, temporary restraining orders and injunctions granted under this Article may be served upon the respondent by a peace officer, sheriff, constable, or policeman, or other law enforcement officer whose duty it is to preserve the peace, or by any other person authorized by law to serve process, with appropriate orders to the officials to enforce the court's order.
"§ 95-264.   Limits on liability of employers.
(a)	An employer and an employer's agents who act in accordance with this Article shall be presumed to be acting in good faith and, unless lack of good faith is shown by clear and convincing evidence, are immune from civil liability for actions taken under this Article.
(b)	Any employer, or its employee or invitee, that does not utilize the procedures of this Article shall not be liable for negligence, and evidence of the failure to utilize the procedures of this Article shall not be admissible as evidence of negligence.
"§ 95-265.  Scope of Article; other remedies available.
This Article does not expand, diminish, alter, or modify the duty of any employer to provide a safe workplace for employees and other persons. This Article does not limit the ability of an employer or employee to pursue any other civil or criminal remedy provided by law."
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Attorney General's Office of the Department of Justice, the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) for the 2002-2003 fiscal year to be used to educate the public about domestic violence.
SECTION 3.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective January 1, 2003. The remainder of this act becomes effective July 1, 2002.